Prince of the Hidden Leaf
by Helghy
Summary: The elemental nations are a secretive and isolationist group of states in southern Anima. Most notable from these states is their counterpart to huntsmen and huntresses in the form of shinobi. The differences however couldn't be more apparent when known Shinobi Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze is held prisoner in the Supranational institute of Beacon as ward of none other than team RWBY.
1. Ch 1 Uninvited Guests

**Hello, first time posting here, hope you enjoy, of course reviews are welcome and wanted. I would love input on this, as I said, first time story so I would appreciate suggestions.**

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**Chapter One: Uninvited Guests**

Ozpin and Glynda watched the different feeds monitoring students in the entrance exam for beacon. So far things were going quite well. Yang Xiao Long and her newly appointed partner Blake Belladonna were nearing the ruins to attain their artifact. Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee finally seemed to be heading the right way, albeit not truly under their own power as they had seemingly hitched a ride with a giant nevermore. Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos had yet to be killed by the giant deathstalker they had riled up, an impressive feat. Ozpin didn't wish to comment on Nora and Ren, other than he had to acknowledge the boy would make a fine educator with his level of patience.

All in all things were going well. Except for one massive hiccup. Somehow a group of non-students had entered the training ground and appeared to be searching for something. Ozpin and Glynda had only caught glimpses of the elusive individuals, yet still the pair were nearing a point where they felt the need to step in and get involved. Whoever was out there wasn't supposed to be. Ozpin couldn't honestly think of what reason they would be there. This part of Emerald Forest was box canyon with no notable resource or any constructs except an old ruined temple complex long since picked clean by archaeologists and treasure hunters.

That led the two experienced hunters to assume the worst, these people were here for a student. Perhaps to harm multiple students. Ozpin still was having difficulty coming to decide who they were though. He thought perhaps they were white fang members after either Weiss Schnee or Blake Belladonna each for their own reasons. That was until he managed to pause the camera and paled considerably. There a blurry still of a mask, similar to yet still noticeably different from the white fang masks. Shinobi. The thought alone made Ozpin pale considerably. What more he had no way of knowing the exact number or worse yet their objective. Someone could have hired them for nearly anything from an assassination to a massacre to simply scouting the future competition for the upcoming vytal festival.

The Shinobi of the Elemental league nations were well known for their morally gray areas. Their economies largely hinged on the underworld which they partially embraced in contrast to the four kingdoms. It kept their terrifying soldiers up to snuff in peace time as well as war. Sadly the image was too blurry to catch any identifiers on the mask. The forehead symbol marking which of the nations they hailed from remained obscured just barely enough to keep him unsure.

He didn't have to contemplate on that for long though, soon the cameras around the ruins drew his attention. There in the ruins, a man with a scratched headband seemed to be fleeing toward the ruins. Behind him a Shinobi with a mask and matching forehead symbol gave chase. The movement of the two shinobi was stunning. Ozpin had encountered only a few in his life, but had seen their unique way of using their aura even less often. He knew they could use it to enhance their body's strength, speed, endurance and many other ways however now he was watching two shinobi give him a full display.

The masked shinobi seemed to be funneling the unmasked man toward the cliff wall to box him in. Occasionally flinging kunai or shuriken at speeds much faster than normally possible. Again Ozpin noted that they were enhancing themselves with their aura.

"Ozpin, Xiao Long and Belladonna are on a collision course with the Shinobi." Glynda stated. She sounded calm but their was worry in her voice. Few knew the extent of shinobi abilities due to their secretive natures, even amongst their own people, however a huntress of Glynda's caliber knew fully well what an encounter could entail. If this was a mission tabled to be unknown then the girls would likely be eliminated as witnesses.

A burst of water from the masked pursuer slammed into a tree stripping a large section of bark and cracking the trunk slightly. Suddenly the man in front lost his balance in avoiding the attack and tumbled painfully directly into the path of Blake and Yang as they were approaching.

Ozpin, did something he hadn't in years at the sight of the bewildered faces of the teen girls. He cursed, taking Glynda by slight surprise.

With that the two hunters took off into the forest below.

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Yang and Blake had been making great progress in the test so far. It already seemed like their style of fighting complemented one another well enough. Yang was a frontline wrecking ball in a fight, and Blake's speed, agility, and ability to slip around her opponent made them easy to modify with Yang sticking to her enemy's face and Blake slipping in shots whenever there was an opening.

Personality wise they might have to work a bit. Blake was quiet, uncomfortably so for Yang, and the opposite was true as well. Luckily they seemed to get along well enough. Having a small and honestly pointless conversation about their new school.

This was of course interrupted when a man, who appeared in his late twenties slammed into the path before them. It was obvious he had not intended to come rolling out of the brush like a bowling ball. However when he came to a stop it was apparent his day was probably not going well.

Both girl's were shocked by his arrival. It was easy to tell he was not a prospective student like themselves. He was far too old to be just now applying. More shocking however was how roughed up he seemed to be. Small cuts and scrapes littered his outer extremities and back. A large gash on his chin was bleeding heavily and several bruises were beginning to darken on his face and body. Snapping out of her stupor Yang raced over to the man intent on helping him.

"Hey dude, a-are you awake?" Yang asked. The man didn't respond at first but slowly his eyes fluttered open and he looked back at the two girls in confusion.

After a moment he seemed to remember where he was because he bolted to his feet, despite wobbling slightly and began scanning the trees around him with his dark eyes. Yang was trying to calm him down and get him to sit back down before he hurt himself, but Blake stood stock still.

Staring at his forehead she was terrified. She knew not only what that symbol meant but also the slash through the same symbol. She was just about to reach out and drag Yang back but then three of them turned as one to a new presence resting above them in the trees from the same direction the man had tumbled from.

The figure before them was intimidating. Grey and black sleek body armor, and a white mask with orange, red, and yellow markings making it look like a fox, topped off with an engraved symbol matching the one on the man's headband gave the person the appearance of a horror movie killer. Or a trained assassin.

"Shinobi…" Blake whispered. Fear evident in her voice. The figure above her snapped it's eyes to glance at her before focusing on the man Blake knew to be a rogue.

Yang watched the apparent woman above them sit silently and size them up. She assumed woman, hard to tell with the mask and the crouched positioning she was in. However she had a more lithe physique than most men and long blonde hair tied in a single ponytail with two bangs framing the side of her mask.

Without warning the girl flung a kunai out and it struck the man in the arm he brought up to defend himself. Just barely protecting his throat from the blade. As he tripped and fell back against the tree behind him, Yang and Blake prepared themselves for a fight.

"What the hell are you doing?" Yang shouted. It was obvious this masked maniac was trying to kill this guy behind her. From the looks of him she had him on the run for a while.

"Do not interfere this does not concern you." The masked figure spoke in a light feminine tone. It was very obvious now that it was a young girl that was behind the mask.

Yang stepped in front of the man and aimed her gauntlets. More or less saying that to get to him she had to go through her.

"Last warning, you in black, you know what I am, and you know what he is. You would be smart to stay out of the way." The girl spoke again.

Blake hesitated. A part of her. A very big part of her wanted to do exactly what this girl told her too. She was somewhat disgusted with the part of her that would so willingly give someone over to the person trying to kill them. The same part of her that wanted to leave the man to his fate was extremely pissed that it wasn't the biggest part of her. The biggest part of her wanted to stop this girl from killing the man behind her.

"No, you tell us why you are after him." Blake said.

The masked girl shifted slightly for a moment. Blake and Yang tensed, expecting another attack. They were right to. In a sudden flicker two copies of the girl appeared and drew Kunai and Shuriken before launching themselves and their weapons at the two huntresses-in-training.

Blake easily avoided the weapons and coiled around the clone after her with extreme fluidity. Yang on the other hand simply let the weapons bounce off her bulky gauntlets before hurtling herself into her enemy at high enough speed to disperse the clone.

Shocked by the ease with which the two girls eliminated her clones the masked shinobi had to move before a shotgun blast slammed into the tree she had been standing on a moment later. Flipping over the buxom blonde woman attacking her the shinobi flung another brace of shuriken at the rogue shinobi the two teens were protecting. Only one managed to hit the man as the rest were blocked by the sudden arrival of Blake as she used her sword to deflect the incoming attack.

Again flipping over gunfire, this time from the unique kusarigama style weapon Blake used, the masked girl ended up in another tree. She drew another Kunai, however before she could aim she was blindsided by the much large blonde whon slammed her off the tree branch and onto the ground.

Groaning in pain the girl attempted to roll with the landing but instead received a sudden blow to the face from a gauntleted fist that sent her crashing into another tree, and then dumping her on the ground. Again though the girl rolled to her feet. Now however her face was exposed causing her opponents to hesitate.

Yang and Blake had known she was young, however they didn't realize how young. Before them was a girl that Yang realized was around Ruby's age if a little younger. What surprised Blake the most though was the girl was a faunus. More specifically a fox faunus. Her long blonde hair was now slightly loosened, and disheveled. Some blood ran from her lip and down her chin, two long fox ears, now stood on end out of the thick hair on her head. On her face she had three whiskers on each cheek, but most notably were her ruby red slitted eyes that were beautiful and intimidating at the same time.

"Ha! They sent you? I have been running from you? No wonder I'm not dead. I can't believe it." The raspy voice of the man behind Yang and Blake rang out.

"This whole time I thought some true blue rogue hunter was after me and it was you. I didn't even fight back because I thought...Haha. Oh is this your first S rank? Is that why there are so many others in the forest? Babysitting a baby shinobi." The man seemed completely different now. Gone was the cowering figure Yang and Blake were protecting and now in his place was a confident shinobi. One that was guffawing at the expense of the girl in front of him.

Without warning the man raced forward, in the blink of an eye he was beside her before slamming his fist into her stomach hard enough to lift her off the ground and catapult her into the same tree as earlier. Then spinning he slammed a foot hard into her head sprawling her across the ground.

"Ha see you didn't earn that mask brat." The man bellowed as he stomped on the girl's back hard enough to cause a shout of pain to jump from her throat.

All of this had happened so quickly that Yang and Blake had not even reacted yet. Luckily they didn't have to. A red blur of rose petals rocketed into the man's side and again pressed him into a tree. A white design appeared in the air and suddenly he was pressed hard against the tree as if gravity itself was trapping him there.

Ruby and Weiss joined Blake and Yang in standing in the clearing. Finally processing the sudden series of events Yang and Blake broke out of their shocked state and took up positions with the red and white themed girls, keeping the man in sight all the while.

"Can someone please tell me what is going on? This guy is obviously way to old to be trying out to be huntsman, and that girl looks younger than Ruby." Weiss commented.

"Well that girl was about to kill that guy so we fought her, but then that guy saw her face and started fighting her too, she didn't stand a chance. I don't know why though." Yang informed the two new arrivals.

"Because he is a rogue shinobi." A new voice stated at the same time as Blake. Causing the group to look back to see Ozpin and Glynda standing there.

"Well done all of you you seem to have had the situation handled. It appears out intervention was not needed in the slightest." Ozpin said as he sipped his coffee, somehow looking uninterested in what was going on.

"Now, congratulations you four, you are being given a pass for the rest of the test. Ms. Goodwitch and I will be taking these two off your hands." Ozpin stated.

The four teens shared a brief smile before a wet squelch sound filled the clearing. Turning they saw a kunai buried into the back of the man pressed against the tree. Less than a second later the kunai seemed to explode. The tree and the victim of the attack shattered under the explosion.

Turning to the girl Yang yanked her to her feet by the collar of her shirt and glared.

"Why did you do that?" She hissed between clenched teeth. Beside her Glynda scowled and Ozpin faintly grimaced at the sudden death of the rogue shinobi. Weiss and Ruby both looked shocked at what had happened. They had thought everything was fine and over when Ozpin and Glynda arrived. Now though someone was dead and in literal pieces all over the place.

"Those that abandon the mission are trash." The fox faunus said simply as she glared defiantly back at Yang.

Hesitating only a moment Yang pulled her fist back to punch the girl in the face, but stopped when her cheek suddenly split open. Glancing up into the trees the two hunters and four hunters in training slowly took in their audience.

Half a dozen figures, with matching outfits to what the girl had been wearing, were arrayed throughout the trees. The seemed to defy gravity in some cases resting on branches that shouldn't support their weight. Out of the several new threats one stood out the most. His mask was similar to the girls, a fox though his seemed caught in an enraged snarl and utilized far more red paint than the yellow and orange the girl had. He stood stock still, arm extended from having thrown the blade that had caught Yang's attention.

"Released her. Now." The fox masked man commanded. Unlike most of the others he wore a hooded cloak that concealed his hair and body for the most part. However judging by his voice he sound relatively the same age as the hunters in training.

No-one moved for several moments. However rather than releasing the girl, Glynda used her semblance to seize her and pull her into a closer position beside her and Ozpin. Yang rejoined the other three teens in a defensive position though it was very obvious how nervous the girls were.

"Brother, I'm sorry. I completed the mission, I…" The girl began but was cut off by a glare from the masked man.

"Be silent Narumi. You give away information too easily, you aren't ready for ANBU." The apparent brother of the now named Narumi coldly stated. The young girl appeared as if his words had physically slapped her. She teared up slightly however nodded and lowered her head, staring at the ground.

"It would seem we are at an impasse. If you would please surrender yourselves to myself and Miss Goodwitch, I can assure you all humane and fair treatment." Ozpin stated.

The masked man stood silently for a moment. One or two of the other masked shinobi shifted slightly. The situation was a difficult one. Technically orders were to eliminate their imprisoned ally and destroy any evidence, however those actions had long since fallen to the way side since the most recent leadership ascended to the throne. Not to mention, Narumi was not someone that could be simply cast aside like many Shinobi could. It also went without needing to be said, that their leader would not let something like that happen to his sister.

"You are outnumbered, and your only leverage is one girl. I am sure you, Ozpin know the actions that I am to take in this situation." The man spoke. His even tone from earlier having gained a slight edge into it.

"Oh I am quite aware, and had Miss Narumi here not mentioned you were her brother I would expect nothing less of a Shinobi. Especially one of you masked ANBU. However she did call you brother, and I doubt you would have allowed me to negotiate with you were you intending to eliminate her." Ozpin replied. He held no emotion in his voice. It was flat, utterly so and it agitated the Shinobi captain as the Shinobi were typically the emotionless logic based fighters in a conflict.

"Captain." A deer horned Shinobi began nearby. "Time is short."

"Understood. You Ozpin. Release the girl and I will take her place." The captain said.

As soon as the words left his mouth gasps from the other shinobi were heard and the girl's head snapped up, tears freely streaming down her face.

"Captain, you can't that sort of…" The same horned shinobi began before being cut off with a raised hand.

"What do you say Headmaster Ozpin. I will trade myself for my little sister and my people will go on their way. No more bloodshed. No more fighting." HIs voice had gone from an undertone of anger to one of slight desperation. Both Ozpin and Glynda easily picked up on that. It seemed this boy truly wanted to protect his sister even at the cost of himself.

"Remove your mask and give your name, drop your weapons and approach slowly." Ozpin ordered calmly.

The shinobi began to do so. Slowly removing his katana and wakizashi before unfastening the many holsters of kunai and shuriken. Slowly but surely he lowered himself to the ground before walking halfway to the gathered hunters. Calmly he pulled back his mask and hung it from his belt.

The man before them was young, like Ozpin and the others had expected he appeared around the student's age. He had a somewhat feminine face though his masculine jawline assured his sexuality to the people opposite of him. Like the girl they held hostage, his face bore whisker marks and from what they could tell elongated and sharp canine teeth. Out of his wild blonde hair rose two fox ears, now that his hood was removed. His eyes, like Narumi's were red with a slitted pupil. His face also bore a small scar on his left cheek running diagonally from the direction his mouth toward the top of his ear.

"Release Narumi, and I will surrender myself to your custody Ozpin." The boy stated. His red eyes seemed focused entirely on Ozpin, though in reality his attention was primarily on his sister.

With a nod from her superior, Glynda disabled her semblance and the girl slowly rose to her feet. It was obvious she was in serious pain from her earlier beating. Passing by her brother she stopped and gently rubbed her head and whispered too quietly for any of the hunters to hear.

The girl finally stepped passed him and continued over to the perimeter set up by the rest of the shinobi before two shinobi dropped down beside her and then disappeared with her into the trees.

Slowly one by one the rest of the Shinobi disappeared. Until only the one with antlers remained.

"Captain, we will come back." He seemed very distraught about what was happening.

"I know, the moment you tell the two bosses back home about what's happened, everything will be worked out. Really it's fine." The fox faunus spoke. Getting a hesitant nod from his apparent second in command, before he two disappeared.

Everything was silent for a moment before Ozpin stepped forward and took the boys appearance in. His mind was screaming at him that he knew who this was, but couldn't quite place it. It didn't help with how secretive the Elemental League nations were. So content with fighting one another, that they largely ignored the rest of the world, but wary of outsiders to the point of extreme paranoia. The headmaster made a mental point that he blamed Mistral for treating the region's political situation like a playground one too many times.

"I believe I still haven't gotten your name." Ozpin commented.

The faunus boy stayed silent a moment, sizing up Ozpin and the others. For a moment the group tensed, expecting him to lash out or go back on his word and attempt a fight. Instead he sighed in a defeated fashion, while maintaining his air of elegance and regla authority he held throughout the encounter.

"My name is Naruto. It will take much more than me being your prisoner to get more than that." The now named Naruto stated.

Ozpin's inner voice was even louder now, but he just couldn't place his finger on it. Glynda likewise was certain she knew of the boy. However no-one except Naruto noticed the stunned look on Blake's face as she stared at the boy in shock and a myriad of other emotions.

"Shall we continue on to your academy, or do you want to cuff me first?" Naruto quipped.


	2. Ch 2 How to Treat a Prisoner

**Hello again, thanks everyone that viewed, reviewed, favorited, and followed from the last chapter. Please Keep this sort of thing up because it keeps me interested in continuing to write the story. **

**As for some of the reviews, I know a few people were worried that this will just be Naruto goes to Beacon again, that is not what is going on here. I have a separate fanfiction story that I have had on the backburner that does that. I just want to thank those who PMed me especially for working with me to add ideas both in the short term and long term for this story, you are awesome.**

**Now some points that need to be brought up that will become apparent as you read the chapter, I have heavily nerfed shinobi, and Naruto especially, one of the biggest things I have done is remove Kyuubi from our favorite blond hero so I felt that was important to bring up. As for the worry about Naruto being so nerfed he couldn't fight team RWBY, well he is still more than capable of defeating them. However with some time to work together the four of them would give him a hell of a hard time in a straight up fight. As it stands I am making Naruto on par with a veteran Huntsman, which should be more than powerful enough for the start of the story.**

**As always I look forward to any reviews, especially those that will help me with both my writing ability and story telling ability, so please review.**

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**Chapter Two: How to Treat a Prisoner**

**Three Weeks Ago**

Narumi ground her teeth in frustration. In front of her Naruto smiled warmly as he repostitioned himself from their last bout. He had been telling her again and again throughout the day that she had done an excellent job and made great progress yet the girl had trouble seeing it. Narumi was sensible enough to admit she was jealous of her brother to a degree. She loved him dearly and he had always been there for her, but he was leagues above her and his career showed it.

She couldn't go a single day without being reminded in some way of her brother, or father, or mother's heroics. Luckily for her younger siblings Menma and Mito they would always be the babies of the family. Narumi though. Narumi was the middle child. She pushed herself to try and break out of Naruto's shadow, but it still seemed so impossible. He was widely considered a prodigy among prodigies, one who was born gifted, and then worked himself to the bone to go beyond even that.

So no matter what he always seemed a step ahead. Narumi graduated the academy a year early at eleven, Naruto graduated at ten, most likely because their parents wouldn't have let him graduate any younger after seeing what it had done to so many family friends. She had made chunin at thirteen, Naruto had made it at twelve. When he was twelve he helped in fighting off the Pale Snake cult and their coup, Narumi's most difficult mission had been protecting a caravan from two rogue shinobi from Earth Country.

Now though she had a chance to finally catch up. To finally pull a tie in the race that only she was aware was being run. Naruto didn't think she had heard, but prior to their training today she had caught the brief discussion between their mother and him regarding exactly what she had been working toward for the last year.

ANBU initiation.

The mere thought caused determined frown she wore to twitch toward a grin. She was about to go after Naruto again in their practice but his raised hand stopped her and he motioned over to the side of the room they had been working out in. Well Naruto hardly broke a sweat but that was to be expected from the Hidden Leaf's Golden Fox. Narumi's favorite Bingo Book alias for her brother by far.

"Narumi what's got you suddenly fighting back a smile?" Naruto asked playfully. He knew very well what however playing difficult was part of the fun of teasing the firebrand that was his younger sister.

"I dunno just think today is a good day, don't you think today is a good day?" Narumi chuckled.

"Uh-huh, well it could be better." Naruto pointedly looked at the window and the steady rain coming down outside. Following his gaze Narumi dropped her head and blushed in embarrassment having forgot Naruto only trained inside when he had good reason.

Naruto patted the spot next to him and his sister sat down. For a while both teens just stared out the window at the rain. Well Naruto stared at the rain and Narumi pretended to stare at the rain while watching Naruto from the corner of her eye. He seemed odd suddenly. His usual bright grin was gone. His eyes were distant like they were looking for something. Then for just an instant, Narumi remembered a day similar to this one when she was a little girl. She had been lonely, and Naruto had come and sat with her. He hadn't said anything. She could still smell the hints of blood on him even after his post-mission shower, but still he had seen her alone and sat with her instead of getting some rest.

Finally Naruto turned to look at her and smiled softly. Placing a gentle hand on her shoulder and squeezing.

"I'm real proud of the Shinobi you are Narumi. You remind me so much of myself it's not even funny, though I would argue you definitely got off better in the looks and brains departments than I did." Naruto joked getting a halfhearted scoff from his sister.

"You know," He continued. "I know you push yourself hard because you feel like your in my shadow." Narumi's eyes widened. She had believed she had kept her anger at her situation well hidden.

"You don't have anything to be ashamed of. I was the same way. I had a classmate that always pulled just barely ahead of me in class, and when we were in the field, he was always the one Kakashi relied on for our squad. It got under my skin so I pushed myself hard as hell to prove a point. I was wrong though. What I mean by that is, that's a stupid reason to push yourself so hard." Naruto said.

The girl turned to glare at her brother. Confusion mixed with just a hint of betrayal flashing in her eyes. How could her brother say that to her? He had just told her he had done the same thing, so was he about to try and lecture her that her reasons for being a strong shinobi weren't good enough? She tensed and prepared to step away but his hand clamped down on her shoulder and kept her sitting. There was no getting out of what her brother wanted to say now, he only ever used physical force to make someone listen when he felt it absolutely necessary.

"Look Narumi, just listen for a moment. I'm telling you something important, something I had to learn the hard way. So listen close. The point of being a shinobi is to endure hardship and protect what you love. That's it. It doesn't matter if you are the fastest, the toughest, the most well known, or whatever. All that matters is if you are strong enough to protect what you love. I wasn't. Multiple times. So that's all I'm trying to say, is do this for the right reasons, okay?"

She had far more questions now than she did a moment ago. Narumi could think of a few times that Naruto was talking about but still she wasn't sure exactly what he meant. Did he lose someone and she not realize it.

Her mind was broken from her questions when Naruto lifted a mask, very similar to his own however it was slightly less intimidating, and had slightly different designs and colors for the paint. Still it was the same fox mask her brother and mother wore as part of the recently established Hunter ANBU.

"Make sure you have your supplies or the guys at the front of the office will give you a hard time. Be there tomorrow morning to be prepped for your initiation mission. Understood?" Naruto asked. He was back to looking out the window.

"Y-yeah. Er. I mean Yes, I understand. I gotta go see mom, bye!" Like that the girl was out the door, leaving Naruto to chuckle slightly.

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**Present Day: Eastern Sanus, Border of Vale**

The team of Hunter ANBU were boarding their globally obsolete aircraft, a simple militarized helicopter. They had moved almost non-stop for three days. Twice the speed they had gone when inbound for the mission. The usual number for the team was six, which right now they were actually at six. However, the team leader was replaced with a far younger and more emotional Uzumaki-Namikaze.

Narumi was ashamed of herself and was torn between breaking down and crying and screaming her head off at the ANBU agents around her. This was not how this was supposed to go. They were supposed to track down and eliminate or capture a rogue shinobi heading to meet with a white fang cell based out of Vale after they had bought classified intel regarding Fire Country military secrets. Both shinobi and regular army secrets. Needless to say, the Hidden Leaf did not bring Vale or Beacon into the loop, even though they would need to cross their territory to apprehend the culprit. What good would catching the bastard do, if the secrets got into even larger threats hands.

It had started fine. Naruto had said she was doing everything right. Even though her target seemed to slip through every time just barely before they caught up to him. Still she tracked him all the way to Beacon's apparent sacred ground, and that was when things had gone wrong.

Suddenly hunters in training were falling from the sky onto them and Naruto had the team split up to avoid detection and find the target. He told them that their intel said the rogue was to link up with white fang agents midway through the tests for new hunters so to better cover the hand off.

It hadn't lost her. Narumi followed right behind him. She was almost on him when two girls had interfered. Then came one of the most humiliating moments in her life. A man, chunin just like her took her apart, even while injured and exhausted. She was ashamed of that, but in the end she still completed the mission. At the cost of her own capture. Luckily for her Hunter ANBU were not considered black ops anymore. The three branches of ANBU having split apart five years ago, after Elder Sarutobi's murder.

Still her actions following the killing of her target had proven she wasn't ready for ANBU even more than her near failure to defeat her opponent. Ironically, the same woman that stopped her fight, gave her the opening to land the final attack. However even with the mission completed things had gone downhill. From there she couldn't help but wonder if she had done things different perhaps it would have worked out differently.

On top of the self-loathing and guilt from failing her brother Narumi couldn't help but feel confused by his last words to her as well. He had whispered to her, only loud enough that a faunus or trained shinobi would catch it. Narumi was right next to him and heard him loud and clear.

"This isn't your fault Narumi, it was bound to happen. Just ask mom what I mean." Naruto had whispered to her.

The girl had run the words through her head multiple times. It possibly suggested that there was more going on than she was aware of. Kushina Uzumaki had taken over the commander position for this branch of ANBU five years ago. Then again, he could simply be trying to comfort her.

The thing that kept her from doubting that, was the change in Naruto's team's demeanor after passing the border of Vale. They had noticeably shifted from downtrodden over their comrade's capture to suddenly acting as if nothing was going on. Therefore, if they were acting as if nothing was going on, Narumi felt confident there was something going on.

Having boarded the aircraft the team was back enroute to the Hidden Leaf. It wouldn't be too long now before she could hopefully get some answers.

In front of her Shikamaru, Naruto's second in command and one of his closest friends removed his mask. The deer faunus was an excellent shinobi. He like Naruto was promoted in his first time in the exams and earned Jonin prior to the recent shinobi war that had burned Rain, Grass, and Waterfall countries to cinder. She remembered those days, Naruto and Shikamaru always next to each other, and almost always smelling of blood or smoke. It was true her generation of Shinobi hadn't really faced any sort of hardship like their predecessors. Even with the war and the prior coup, the Elemental League and the Hidden Leaf most notably had experienced an unprecedented peace in her life time. In her whole life, not a single of the five major nations had gone to war with each other, excluding the failed coup of course due to Wind Country being fooled into thinking their leader had joined forces with the Snake's cult.

Shikamaru had always been by her brother's side, now though he seemed to simply act as if nothing happened. There had to be something she was missing. There was only one thing she could think, but it sounded a little far fetched to her. She couldn't see the reason behind it.

"Shika," She enjoyed the faint grimace at the shortening of his name. "My brother was meant to be captured wasn't he."

Shikamaru stared at her silently for a moment. His brown eyes boring into her own scarlet. He finally shifted slightly before smirking at her.

"Naruto always did say you got off better in looks and brains than he ever did." Shikamaru joked lightly.

The joke reminded her again of that day sitting with her brother. She still wished she had just sat with him a little longer. That caused her to growl internally. She needed to stop acting as if her brother was dead. The moment they found out who he was, he would get the royal treatment. This wasn't the Elemental League. Diplomacy was far less filled with knives to the back than back home.

Realizing that was all she was going to get out of the older shinobi, Narumi leaned back in her seat and decided to try and catch up on sleep for when she confronted her mother. She doubted she was going to like hearing whatever her mother had to say.

* * *

**Three and Half Weeks Prior, Royal Apartments, Hidden Leaf**

The morning had largely been quiet. However the Hidden Leaf, as well as the other forbidden cities, was forever in motion, even if it wasn't apparent. Even now, while sitting and playing shogi with Shikamaru, Naruto was thinking of the discussion his parents wanted to have today. He knew only that it entailed an S rank or higher mission. That in itself wasn't that worrying. He had already worked his share of those even for his young age. What worried him however was that they weren't going through the usual system to give the mission.

Normally Naruto and his team would receive orders from his mother in her office at the ANBU main headquarters. That is if it was a mission for his team. If it was a mission for him but not his team as a whole, he typically took it from his father's office in the main tower at the Shinobi tower.

"I win again. You are not paying attention today Naruto, what is it." Shikamaru asked as he put the board back in the start position. The pair had made it a daily thing to meet up for a few games of shogi and a cup of tea in the mornings before heading out to take care of their duties. They both had far more responsibility than just their squad's missions so they usually had full schedules.

"I'm too obvious aren't I?" Naruto sighed. "Something is coming up. I think something major if my parents are going around the missions offices. They want to talk to me this morning about a high ranking mission." Naruto explained as he set up his side of the board and poured himself and Shikamaru another round of tea.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru responded as the two restarted their game.

The pair played in silence for several minutes. The only sound was the occasional swallow of tea and the clicking of game pieces on the board. Naruto once hated this game, he had a knack for out of the box strategies when they were younger and had been a favorite opponent for Shikamaru whenever he could bribe the hyperactive boy into a game. Now though Naruto sought Shikamaru out for a game nearly as often as Shikamaru sought him out. It seemed puberty, and war, had rounded the blonde out.

Shikamaru still remembered the boy who would play at being the carefree class clown. Shikamaru knew better though, he had seen it. Naruto had played at being so clownish to try and take his mind off the immense stress unintentionally put on him. The pair had hit it off right off the bat due to a similar mindset. Shikamaru wanted nothing more than an average career, family and life. Instead he was fastracked to be the next head of his family and to follow in his father's footsteps as commander of the Jonin of the Hidden Leaf. Naruto likewise, simply wanted to be a family man. His younger sibling's needs and parent's ridiculous schedule had left him largely to his own devices outside of training. So the pair would often slip out just to enjoy a quiet afternoon at the park. Naruto happily pulling pranks or other such high energy activities, and Shikamaru either drug along or laying under a shade tree and watching the clouds.

Looking across from him at his friend, one of his two best friends actually, Shikamaru had a small smile rest on his face at the thought of how far their group of friends had all come. Some hadn't made it to today. Others had decided on a different path for themselves. However Naruto and Shikamaru were still here. The de facto leaders of their group of friends. Through them and especially Naruto the remnants of the once dubbed rookie twelve still got together as often as they could to just catch up. Shikamaru had once questioned where exactly Naruto's drive to keep close with all his comrades came from. The moment he met Kushina, he had since taken to joking that the woman had bear faunus in her background that made her such a mother bear.

Shikamaru's rather boring sense of humor was broken up when he heard the door open and the King and Queen of Fire stepped into the room with serious looks plastered on their faces. Something that was wrong as the entire Uzumaki-Namikaze family were known for their happy and friendly demeanor. He stood to excuse himself and bowed before heading for the door.

"Actually Shikamaru I think you should be here too." Minato said. There was no force or authority in his voice, but still it left no room for argument from the Nara.

"Yes sir." Shikamaru responded before returning to stand by the now standing Naruto. Both young men watched as Minato and Kushina took seats on the small comfortable couch at the center of the room and faced the young men.

Kushina looked conflicted when she gazed at the boys. The rest of the rooms occupants didn't know, but just looking at the two serious young shinobi before her brought up conflicting thoughts of her adorable troublemaker son and his partner in crime. She could practically see the foxy grin on a little Naruto's face after being caught skipping class or pulling a prank. Usually on one of the thankfully few faunus hating citizens of the village.

Shaking off those thoughts the cheeky little boys disappeared and were replaced by the young men before her once again. Both had careers that already marked them above the rest, and on Naruto's face she could see just one of the many scars the pair had gained. With that she still hesitated to begin saying what she needed to say. This was not easy for a mother to do, even if she was also their commanding officer.

"Kushina, do you want me to take over?" Minato asked. The blue eyed blonde haired man looked at her with a loving and understanding gaze. She sighed at the look he was sending her. Minato had always been the one to believe in their children the most. It was one of the few things they had argued about during their marriage. Sometimes it was more of a curse to be in charge of what missions your children took than it was blessing.

"No, I'm his immediate superior, it's my job." She said, shooting a small pout at the man causing him to chuckle lightly at her false attitude. She usually did that to either kid with someone or purposefully irritate them.

Turning back to the boys the red haired beauty sighed deeply. Her crimson slitted eyes locked with her son's for a moment as he sent her a warm smile back. She smiled at that, her boy had always gone out of his way to cheer her up. When had they gone from her cheering him up to where they were now? Somewhere her little boy had grown up and she felt like she missed it.

Either way, now wasn't the time to dwell on that. It was making her worry about this mission more and more.

"Naruto, we have recently received a mission request by a party evidently wanting the death of someone that is being kept at Beacon Academy." Kushina said. This caused Naruto and Shikamaru's eyes to widen. It was rare for Shinobi to get missions near the capitals of the four kingdoms, and all but unheard of to get one to one of the academies. Beyond that even this was Beacon academy. While Haven Academy bent over for Mistral when pushed too hard, and Atlas academy was as much of a puppet to their government as their name suggested. Beacon was exactly what the academies had been intended as. Independent political identities for the betterment of all human and faunus kind. Several peace talks and negotiations had occurred there over the years as a result. To take a mission, especially an assassination mission there with the target being someone that was evidently under Beacon's protection.

"So are we dealing with a student or faculty?" Naruto asked. "A student should be no problem, and not really require this amount of cloak and dagger. Faculty could be hard, Beacon's staff are all roughly on par with the Guardian Twelve. Ozpin, is closer to you in skill mom, according to all the info I've glanced at."

"Neither. The target is a young woman in critical condition on life support held somewhere on the campus in a secure location. The client told us their people have already attempted one assassination on them which was a near success however they are now being kept at Beacon to heal we presume." Minato said.

"Of course, so security is going to be extremely tight. Troublesome." Shikamaru sighed, reaching for his pack of cigarettes only to stop himself with the glare Kushina shot his pocket. Instead he clicked his teeth in annoyance.

"We have a large amount of info for you already set aside. I'm sure you will want to pour over it before you bring the rest of your team in on this. As it is, we already have a possible route to get you onto campus without too much issue." Minato continued.

"You aren't going to like it." Kushina responded seeing the boy's eyebrows raise in curiosity.

The boys shared a glance, and Shikamaru pulled out a cigarette and lit it despite the glare from the Queen. It was too early in the morning for another hair-brained Uzumaki scheme. Rolling her eyes from the teen's actions she moved to pull out a small file from under her arm.

"A month ago we became aware that one of our shinobi has been passing information to a white fang cell in Vale. The last three times he has contacted them however we intervened and took the place of his white fang partners. Kakashi has already had the people he was passing the information dealt with, but our own man here is gearing up for a larger move. In two days he will go on the run with thumb drive filled with what he thinks is identity of every agent we have around the globe, as if it would be that easy to get his hands on. I think most of the names he has are characters from Jiraiya's icha icha series." Kushina was smirking by the end of what she was saying.

"You will be going under the guise of an ANBU initiation mission to apprehend this, Yasikane Gamou. In reality you will be allowing yourself to be captured." Minato held up his hand to keep them silent when their eyes bugged slightly. "I don't care how you do it but you need to make it look good. The headmaster there will likely go out of his way to get a prisoner from your team, he has been trying to build inroads with us for the last five years, however he only does so when he feels he has advantage over us. The man is manipulative to the extreme and arguably brilliant, just unused to the ways of shinobi. You should hopefully be able to play on his drive toward making contact with us. If all else fails and he puts on too much pressure, just slip that you are the crown prince, and a 'delegation' will come to negotiate." Minato explained the plan to them.

Both young men were silent for a while. They shared a look and held a silent conversation. Minato and Kushina looked back and forth between them. Naruto had never honestly turned down a mission. It had been something Minato had picked up on when the boy was a fresh Chunin. When Minato had started putting him on extermination missions for bandits and grim, Naruto had stepped up to bat with only minor hesitation. The king still felt a bit guilty at that. Naruto had come to have the same 'shinobi switch' that he and so many others displayed. Bordering on a personality break. Seeing his son come home doused in blood, or shaking ash off his shoulders was more difficult than he expected. This was different though. There was a possibility they were sending the boy into the lion's den. A place armed to the teeth with fighters on par with average shinobi, and led by several easily capable of defeating Naruto alone. And that was the real issue, Naruto would be all alone for this mission. His first under such circumstances.

After a long silence, Shikamaru pulled out two more cigarettes and handed one to Naruto before lighting his off the one currently in his mouth before he pinched it out and slid it into his pocket to throw out later.

"I guess we need to get started huh." Naruto stated after a sigh and a deep drag of his cigarette.

"This day was starting out so nice too." Shikamaru commented getting a chuckle and foxy grin from his friend.

* * *

**Ozpin's Office, Beacon**

"And you are certain this is who we have down there?" Glynda Goodwitch asked with a hint of nerves straining in her voice.

"Yeah, the only fake business I can see are what is supposed to be a diplomatic envoy. Even with comms the way they are, getting a message to the elemental nations is not near as fast as between the four kingdoms. They have no central CCT towers, so they have relays that piggyback off the rest of the system, or direct transmitters that are spotty at such long distances. The only way they were able to get this envoy request together so fast is if they were planning this the whole way." Qrow reported over the screen on Ozpin's wall.

"This is all done so amateurishly, one would think they might want us to catch on to what they are planning." Ozpin replied.

"Or… Shinobi just aren't quite as good as we have been all led to believe. I mean all I ever really heard was rumors about them unlocking a second level to Auras similar to how we unlock them to begin with. I call shenanigans on that, just a story to psych out the kingdoms from getting involved in their little tussels they like to have every few years." Qrow said, with a bit of arrogance in his voice.

Ozpin frowned at that and sipped his coffee while Goodwitch scowled at Qrow. The man had fought a couple Shinobi, he should know better than that. Just as she did. The last Shinobi she had fought very nearly took her life, the man was a lecher and acted a fool, but had been incredibly skilled and dangerous. She had been lucky to escape with her life in all honesty.

"That is unlikely. I smell a trap from this, however I have been trying to make ties with Fire Country, and most notably within the Hidden Leaf itself ever since it was attacked five years ago. Instead I have hit a stonewall every time, no matter what method I went about it. Now however we not only have a high ranking shinobi, we have their crown prince sitting in our vault downstairs waiting to be ransomed or exchanged back to his home. This is the chance we need." Ozpin said with confidence.

"So we are just supposed to accept that this is an obvious trap and go with it? Not gunna lie Oz, but that's pretty stupid. Are you drunk? That's my schtick get your own." Qrow responded.

"I should have recognized the boy the moment that mask came off of his face. Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze. However, whether the attempt to negotiate his return is genuine or not is not what has me the most confused. It's why, why now are they going through this to get someone here, what are they after? As far as I know they gain nothing by having a prisoner held by us, so what is the reason?" Ozpin honestly was a little frustrated. Many different possibilities remained.

So far Naruto had given them nothing but his first name. Their attempts to get him to talk were failures, and he had done nothing of note since his arrival. It was a frustrating reality that they simply couldn't get any information. Definitely lent credence to the idea that the Forbidden Villages and Shinobi in general utilized far more vile means of information gathering if the boy they held had quite literally laughed his latest interrogator, Glynda, out of the room after she had tried to intimidate him with her riding crop and naturally domineering personality. He had joked immediately about her ideas of a good time, looking like the cross between a naughty librarian and a hot dominatrix whenever she had her chosen weapon on display. The sudden light blush he got had led to him going all out against her with his teasing, eventually resulting in a minor victory in forcing her to stop her interrogation of him at he time. The other professors hadn't been able to stop their laughing either after watching it happen from behind the tinted window.

"Shall we have another try with our guest?" Ozpin asked his right hand.

Glynda simply scowled at him and turned about and walked out of the office. That was enough of a yes for him, so he followed her.

* * *

Naruto sat calmly at the bland table in the stark white room he had been ushered into once again that morning. Everyday it had been the same thing. Wake up, take care of his hygienic needs, eat a hearty breakfast courtesy of one Dr. Oobleck who seemed to have taken an uncomfortable interest in Naruto, next came a few hours of nothing. Then Oobleck and Port would both escort him to this white room where he would sit, until Ozpin, or one of his lackeys would come in and begin questioning him, each in their own fashion.

Today it seemed Glynda was the main entertainer once again. As far as Naruto had gathered from her she was practically all bark and no bite. Sure with her semblance she could wipe the floor with him, then again if it was a fight the tight enclosed space of this interrogation room was easily to his advantage. The table wasn't even bolted to the floor giving him essentially a massive weapon. For shame.

"Mister Uzumaki…" Glynda began only to be interrupted.

"Thats Mister Uzumaki-Namikaze to you Miss Goodbitch. Well that is unless of course you would like to have a civil discussion like your comrade did yesterday. Then you should probably start with Prince Uzumaki-Namikaze. I can tell you are one for properly respecting one's station afterall." Naruto chided her like a parent to a child.

That alone caused a vein to bulge on her forehead, whats more was the way he had altered her name, or how he had just yesterday given Professor Peach permission to use his name so familiarly. Then again the apparently spoiled prince had spent the entire interrogation the day prior flirting with the easily flustered woman. The initial hopes had been the woman's opposite personality to Glynda lulling him into comfort. Instead the little brat had taken it in stride and repeatedly talked circles around his supposed interrogator.

Adjusting her glasses and taking a moment to visibly recompose herself Glynda sighed before nodding slowly. She missed the faint smirk playing across the young man's lips.

"Very well Prince Naruto, perhaps we can start over. I believe the last time we spoke we never actually got to why your government failed to contact us about a criminal being pursued into our territory." Glynda was far calmer than earlier, however her irritation at referring to the spoiled prince before her as such was obvious to any who were trained to read people.

'This woman is far too repressed emotionally if she is practically bursting at the seams with just this, she must have been a spitfire when she was my age.' Naruto thought while internally smirking.

"Oh well you see, Professor, I dunno really. I mean, I just got sent to fill out my career, Dad says I need to have the record for when I succeed him or whatever." Naruto lied blatantly.

Goodwitch forced down the urge to scowl at the boy before her. Gone was what had struck her as a young warrior and leader in his prime from three days ago, and in place was the spoiled prince many equated with all royalty. She had assumed it was ploy, however the longer he kept up the act, the more she was wondering which one was the act.

"Alright fair enough, perhaps you can tell us some more about yourself. From the scattered reports we were able to get about the Battle of the Hidden Leaf five years ago, you played a major role, could you tell us about that? We have always been curious about what happened there." The woman asked.

Behind the viewing room window, Ozpin shut his eyes, which was his equivalent of a full face palm. Naruto it seemed was quite skilled with playing on other's emotions. Everytime he was with Glynda he immediately seemed to find her weaknesses and latch on to them. It was impressive to him. Everything he learned about these Shinobi was honestly very interesting. Just from watching Naruto interact with his different staff members Ozpin had already noticed exactly what the young man was doing. Simply put he was testing the waters with each of his staff. That went well with one of the headmaster's many theories for why he was here. It was very possible Naruto was a scout to test the strengths and weaknesses of Beacon.

If that was the case, Ozpin would be hard pressed to find a better candidate. The boy had obvious martial skill, and was a talented manipulator. Furthermore his status and family earned him some small measure of immunity from backlash. The first day, he had childishly gotten into a heated argument about literally everything with Glynda. Ozpin and the other staff had enjoyed the show the two put on, because that was exactly what it was, a show. Yesterday the interrogation had started with Oobleck, but that had been put a stop to almost as quickly. Oobleck would likely get information out of Naruto, but it quickly became apparent that his interest in the Shinobi world would hamper him getting relevant information. So Ozpin planned to keep Oobleck acting as Naruto's most common face among the faculty. The person he saw every morning when he woke up, and every night before he went to bed. Not to mention at every meal when Naruto's guard would likely be it's lowest. Ozpin had again enjoyed watching the young man work when interacting with Peach. As Beacon's youngest professor the woman was only a few years older than Naruto himself. Add onto the fact that although exceptionally skilled and attractive the woman had always been an extreme introvert, Naruto had brow beaten her by playing to her hidden vanity. Much like he had picked up on Glynda's tendency to be strict and no-nonsense he had taken Peach by the hand and treated like a fairytail prince would his princess. It was honestly shocking seeing the brilliant young woman turn to putty in a seventeen year old's hands.

"Well it was a fight, duh." Naruto scoffed at Glynda. He then glanced at the window on the wall. "Whenever you are done sending Goodwife here to flirt with me, I wouldn't mind talking to you personally Ozpin." Glynda didn't succeed in fighting back the scowl this time.

"No offense to you of course, I just am not really into the whole not-so-secret-dominatrix thing you got going on. If you weren't walking around with one of your toys in public I might have been tempted, but that showcasing of your sexuality like that is kind of a red flag for me. Now Peach, oh man, what a cute one she is, I see why she works her, smart and cute as a button. Not to mention the fact I didn't realise they made such form fitting lab coats." Naruto rambled.

"Pig." Glynda growled at the boy.

"Oh my professor, are you jealous? Say it ain't so. You shouldn't be, trust me you are a beautiful woman. Who cares if you are starting to get up there in age, internal clock ticking away and all that. I mean this is the modern world, sixty is the new forty am I right?"

The sudden creaking from her riding crop being twisted was the only response he got. Luckily before Naruto pushed her over the edge the door opened and Ozpin stepped in. He signaled her to step out into the hall and she did so after shooting an intense glare at the Prince sitting at the table smiling and waving at her in an overly friendly way.

Once the door shut behind her Ozpin moved across the room and sat across from Naruto. The pair were silent for a while. Naruto slowly changed his demeanor, while he didn't return to a completely serious air, he still realized that Ozpin was cut from a different cloth than his subordinates. While each of his supporters were skilled, extremely so in fact, in their own field, Ozpin was the one they willing followed for a reason. Even among those of the Elemental Nations the man was considered a legendary figure, much like Naruto's own grandmother Tsunade or his parents.

The two men, because honestly despite being the same age as those entering beacon, a Shinobi surrendered childhood at a young age, sat silently and measured one another. For Naruto, it was a losing battle of wills. Naruto was used to being patient, or playing mind games with opponents. Most childhood games in his home were adapted from different training methods to either fight or manipulate others in some way. The most popular being a version of poker which was based around cheating and not being caught.

Here though Naruto was at a disadvantage. Not only had Ozpin undergone more in his lifetime than even Naruto had, giving him a far more robust presence than the blonde, he also had been analysing Naruto for the better part of three days. It wasn't really a question on who would be leading the discussion here.

That wasn't to say Naruto wouldn't go out without a fight.

"You know, you are the third person in my life I have met with naturally gray hair. I thought at first that maybe it was just age, but you don't really have the wrinkles for it. I mean at first I thought you were much older than Goodwitch but in actuality you are around the same age. So, I wonder, did you two ever. You know what never mind, just let my imagination run wild. Either way kudos to you." Naruto said. However unlike with Glynda who he had been gladly teasing Naruto was now watching Ozpin for a reaction. He was disappointed to find none.

Instead Ozpin continued drinking from his mug. Naruto bit the inside of his cheek in frustration at that. Even after purposefully mocking the man's staff and trying to rile him up, nothing. Perhaps simply letting the silver haired man lead would give him a bit of an opportunity. So the pair sat, silent and watched one another, as if they were both in a waiting room.

"I am sure you would like to know, we have gotten word that your people will be assembling a diplomatic entourage to come and likely retrieve you. I know your home lags somewhat in technology and so their transport will likely take longer to arrive. How long would you say until they arrive? Two weeks, three?" Ozpin stated flatly. He had no emotion no tell in his voice at all. However the way he seemed to be watching Naruto had suddenly changed. No longer was he passively observing the blonde. He actually resembled a bird of prey with the way his eyes had zeroed in on the Shinobi's face.

Naruto didn't miss that change. He had expected them to pick up on the fake diplomatic party that was to come. It was too soon, even with modern technology, the elemental nations had spotty access to the CCT network at best. Something of this caliber however would never have gone across such easily intercepted channels. Both men knew this. So the question now, was what did Ozpin believe Naruto's purpose here was. Did he know what the full plan was? Unlikely. However his interest was very much piqued.

"That's great, I wonder who they are sending. Once they show up I'm sure this whole mess can blow over, I mean we both know the man killed was a wanted traitor and criminal in my country. My sweet little sister had every right to do as she did. I mean it's our job to do that sort of thing. You understand." Naruto pushed the cocky angle harder. He could be a little cocky naturally but in all honesty he wasn't the smug douche most attributed to someone of his station. Few in the Hidden leaf that acted arrogant and high and mighty remained so for long. The same could be said for any of the hidden village capitals. Shinobi in general treated actions greater than words. That was the whole reason the former monarchies of the area had been overthrown by Shinobi nearly a century ago.

"Yes well, in the meantime, since you are now officially a political guest here I believe we should discuss new arrangements for where you will be living. It wouldn't be right to leave someone here to lead a diplomatic engagement in a cell in out basement would it." Ozpin said.

Naruto chuckled at that. Had their situation been different, Naruto could feel he would truly enjoy being around the man. He saw the world like Shinobi did. Everything was a mystery or a threat, and people were just stories to unravel. Whats more his sense of humor was very much like Naruto's. He couldn't help but wonder if a young Ozpin had pulled pranks on his parents and friends. It wouldn't have been all that surprising.

"So what did you have in mind?" Naruto asked, the tensions in the room was oddly far more relaxed now. It seemed both parties knowing the other was onto them actually made things flow much more smoothly.

"Well, sadly due to the situation that occurred in the forest and the nature of your unprecedented stay here, it is within reason that someone act as your escort, though I will allow you to argue for which you would prefer within reason of course." Ozpin said.

Truly the shinobi wouldn't have a choice. There were only two people Ozpin was going to allow to act as his primary escort here at Beacon, and they were Dr. Oobleck and Professor Port. Bartholomew and Peter were among his best staff members. On top of that, his right hand Glynda and Amanita were both emotionally unfit to act as the boy's escort. Glynda would likely try and kill him within a day, and Amanita, well he wasn't sure how far the poor woman would fall for the young Shinobi. Ozpin had honestly been shocked by the ease Naruto had picked their defenses apart. It made him a little worried for Bartholomew and Peter, however Bartholomew had already interacted with Naruto to an extent and it seemed that like himself Bartholomew was better suited for the mind games they would play. That and he simply spoke at such a speed sometimes that he doubted Naruto could properly keep up a conversation to actually manipulate the man.

"Well, I would pick Professor Peach, she's a real sweetheart." Naruto drawled. Ozpin was slightly shaking his head at that. He had of course already mentally checked off Amanita from the list. "However I think I gotta go with Oobleck. If he's available I wouldn't mind him following me around. I would love to hear some of the things he has to say, even if most of it is just the history of your four kingdoms." Naruto grinned at Ozpin as the silver haired man nodded.

"Very well, and perhaps you could share some things about your own home. Our information about the Shinobi run nations is woefully lacking." The Headmaster said as he stood to leave.

"Hmm, maybe but you know how we Shinobi are. Secretive and what not. I mean, Hidden Villages, Secret techniques, the whole ANBU mask thing. I think you see the pattern." Naruto sent Ozpin a vulpine grin as the silver haired man left. Naruto would have to remain on guard here, however he couldn't help but smile at how things were going so far. He might actually enjoy his time here, it wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

If he didn't wish to avoid looking stupid, Naruto would have kicked himself by now. Kicked hard too. Bartholomew Oobleck, Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck as he preferred, was an astoundingly annoying man. The speed at which he spoke, and the amount of questions he hurled at Naruto a minute had left the blonde spinning. What's more Oobleck seemed intent on making him interact with the students of Beacon. He even pushed to have him apologize to the members of the so called team RWBY who were there when his sister killed the rogue.

Needless to say that was a no go. Naruto was the first one to apologize, when he messed up. When there was nothing to apologize for though, Naruto was perfectly content telling them to blow it out their ass. If those RWBY girls wanted an apology for shinobi being shinobi, they had another thing coming.

"Young Naruto, are you listening to me?" Oobleck said. He pulled Naruto out of his musings.

"Yes, Doctor Professor, well, no actually can you repeat what you said?" Naruto was decent enough to be somewhat sheepish. Despite how annoying he was Oobleck was very polite and friendly, and so Naruto intended to return the favor.

"Naruto it would be fine to just call me doctor." Oobleck stated. As said before Naruto would be polite and friendly, but Oobleck was a tad annoying, and so Naruto had taken to calling him Doctor Professor to annoy him in return.

"My question was why is it I can sense you have an aura, a massive one in fact, yet you seem to lack the same qualities everyone else I have encountered has. I mean to say why don't you have a shield." The man asked. He had heard rumors of course that Shinobi either didn't have Auras or that theirs behaved differently. Having spent the last three days make small chat with Naruto while he was a literal prisoner, and now acting as his escort while he was officially a diplomatic envoy, Oobleck had taken the time to analyze as much as he could about the shinobi.

He had been unsurprised that he had more questions than answers about Naruto and his people. From history to physiology and much more. His biggest question remained however on what exactly the difference between Shinobi's abilities and that of a huntsman or huntress was. It was apparent it went far beyond training.

"That's because you don't sense aura from me, you sense chakra. It's different. But based on the same thing. Main difference though is that where aura's main function is to protect you, chakra is tied directly to your life, so even using can weaken your body. Shinobi are stronger than huntsmen for the most part, because we force ourselves to train to become stronger. Aura is a crutch, or as my mother explained it Aura is a shield, but Chakra is a blade. A shield protects and that is all, a blade is a weapon and a tool, it can protect, attack, and much more." Naruto explained.

While that did answer the differences between aura and chakra to an extent, it didn't tell Bartholomew a thing about why shinobi had this or how they attained it.

"I see. Yes that's wonderful to learn, but how did you get this ability. Where did your chakra come from." Oobleck asked.

Sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose as Naruto stopped in the hall, he turned to look at the green haired man. He had worn Naruto down for the last three answered questions, and Naruto honestly had given up resisting answering the man. They were basic questions, nothing that would get him in trouble with the people back home. Chakra was not really a closely guarded secret. What was was the process required to activate it. The method was one developed around the same time as shinobi themselves. It was created specifically for them. Sadly there was a good possibility for one's body to reject such an activation. Thats why modern Shinobi, even those from 'civilian' families almost always came from the hidden villages of the different nations. At one point everyone in those villages had chakra activated in them at some point, those that didn't, well they didn't have children, so only those able activate it passed the ability on. Evidently it wasn't overly common to kill those who failed to activate it. However their lives never seemed to be fulfilling after losing their aura.

"Fine I know you will keep asking until I answer, so let me explain it how my mom and grandma put it to me." Naruto groaned as he leaned against the wall.

***Flashback***

A young Naruto, having just celebrated his fourth birthday laid on a table in a hospital room. He was nervous. Practically every kid was when they activated their chakra. They all knew the stories about people who lost their aura because the chakra didn't activate. It was a terrifying thought, especially for the prince. He was unusually young to be doing this, but his parents had been prodigies, not by choice but prodigies all the same. So two years younger than most noble children and four years younger than the average Naruto was strapped to a table to undergo the unity, as his grandmother called it.

"Hey my little maelstrom are you excited?" Kushina asked as she stepped into the room.

Normally Kushina would have been busy with little Narumi however she had left the girl with nannies while she watched over her eldest in one of the biggest moments of his life. If she was honest she was worried too. She had wanted to wait at least another year, however it seemed four was the usual age for Namikazes to undergo the unity. She didn't doubt Naruto would be fine. It was only one out of every thousand unities that went wrong and with how small shinobi numbers actually were, that meant issues were very rare.

"Mommy, why am I tied up?" Naruto asked. He was trying very hard to put on a brave face, it was adorable and tugged on the woman's heartstrings looking down at him as she ran her hand over his cute little ears calming him down.

"I know it's scary sweetie, and not very comfortable, but when your grandma performs the Unity your body will try and make your muscles coil up so you have be tied down to keep from falling off the table y'know." She smiled down at him with her usual bright and warm smile.

"Oh." Was all he said before taking steady breaths. Kushina smiled at him. Tsunade had told her about when Minato had his unity, she had teased him relentlessly, since evidently Minato had cried like a newborn when strapped to the table. Her Naruto was terrified and still he wasn't shedding a tear. Just like his tough mom.

She giggled as she played with his ears a little getting an annoyed glare from the little boy on the table. He was so adorable. Growing up so fast. She felt guilty as her duties as Queen and with little Narumi, she spent less and less time with her little maelstrom. Now he was already on the road to become a shinobi. The first step of many he would take towards his future.

Thankfully before she could get too emotional Tsunade and Shizune came into the room. The teen smiled and waved in silent greeting to Kushina who grinned back. Shizune was technically speaking her husband's aunt, but they had grown up as siblings, her parents had had her extremely late in life and she was actually several years younger than Minato and herself, despite her elder brother being Naruto's grandfather.

As they all stepped into the room Tsunade walked over to Naruto and tickled him slightly eliciting a giggle as the boy couldn't move his arms to stop her. She laughed in a fake maniacal voice as she did it causing him to beg for mercy. It brought a smile to Kushina and Shizune's faces. Tsunade was a hard nosed woman took no issue with knocking someone on their ass, or simply out. When it came to her steadily growing family however, she was terrifyingly affectionate. Like a mother bear and her cubs. Not even Kushina escaped from her mother by marriage. The woman took her in far before Minato and she had been actually married.

"How is my little kit doing today? Hmm?" Tsunade asked as she whipped a clipboard out of nowhere. She checked off the information, she knew all of it already there was no need to ask questions.

"I'm good granny, but when can I get free, I don't like this." The little boy jiggled his arms slightly eliciting a chuckle from Shizune and a grin from Tsunade.

"Well let's hurry and get finished up here and you can get out alright. Now first things first though, Naruto I need you to understand something alright. After this you are going to be very sore, but during this you are going to feel weird okay. It might hurt a little and you might see some things that scare you, but you are safe alright there is no reason to be afraid okay?" Tsunade told him. Naruto was silent at that for a moment. He didn't like the way that sounded.

"W-what do you mean granny?" Naruto asked suddenly far more worried. Tsunade gripped his hand and gave him a comforting smile.

"Nothing major kit, really. You see we are going to force your body to blend your aura and your semblance together. I know you don't know what your semblance is yet, but this way you won't ever miss it either. You see to be shinobi, you must give up a piece of yourself. Your aura protects you, and your semblance acts as part of your very soul. What we are doing will attach your aura to your soul, or your semblance and unlock your chakra network which will allow you to do things you could never do with just aura and your semblance alone. So when you are ready we'll begin okay?" She smiled the whole time she explained things and by the time she finished Naruto was far less worried. Though he was still a little confused, he might have been bright for a child but he was still barely out of being a toddler.

When Naruto nodded, Tsunade placed her hand on the center of Naruto's stomach, right above his belly button and her hand began to glow. At first there didn't seem to be any change, then Naruto felt it. His aura felt like it was pulling tight across his skin. His muscles spasmed wildly as it did this and it felt like itchy grass was running along the whole of his body.

Suddenly he felt the aura break passed his skin and suddenly his whole body felt like it was filled with warmth, then the warmth turned to pain. He felt as if he had been dunked fully in molten steel. So he screamed. To the women in the room this was terrifying. Most children experienced light pain, however Tsunade had realized just how massive Naruto's aura and there by his chakra reserves would be. She felt terrible for the child as he writhed on the table, but she had to continue stopping prematurely would lead to serious injury for him and he could die from that. Kushina was already crying and having to be held back by Shizune as she tried to reach her son.

For Naruto things grew worse as his semblance began to fight to try and resist being devoured by his now growing chakra. Hallucinations ran through his mind, some completely insane, others terrifying as they showed him his worst fears. Tear ran from his eyes, and then suddenly it was done.

Tsunade leaned back in her seat as she took a deep breath. Minato and Kushina had both undergone the unity process by her hands as well. Both had massive reserves too, however their son had such ridiculous reserves she had for a moment thought she wasn't going to be strong enough to force the union between his semblance and his aura. Looking at him now, the small child was out cold. The ordeal far worse than most went through excluding the failures.

"Always a damn surprise with him." She chuckled in relief.

Kushina was practically tearing the buckles off the straps trying to free her son. The seal enhanced leather had cut deeply into his wrists and ankles and they would bruise badly. She felt an odd sense of guilt and relief as she hoisted her little boy in her arms and headed back to the royal apartments portion of the tower. Naruto had earned a good rest and Kushina intended to hold on to her little kit for a good few hours, out of motherly instinct. She hadn't been afraid of course, Kushina Uzumaki-Namikaze did not get afraid of anything. Not even watching her son look to be having the seizure of all seizures right before her eyes.

Shaking those thoughts from her mind she continued on to Naruto's room. Maybe she needed a nap as well.

***End Flashback***

"I see, I see, so it's a medical procedure of some kind and you don't know exactly how it's done, but it combines your aura and your semblance. Fascinating. Though I must say that the thought of what happens in the case of failure leaves me quite frightened." Doctor Oobleck said while scribbling notes on a tiny notebook.

"Yeah it's not for the faint of heart, but thats sort of the whole ideology behind shinobi. A huntsman is a shield against grim, a shinobi is a knife against any threat. Honestly I know mst hunters like yourself are very skilled and all but most shinobi see you all as weak, and limiting yourselves. Then again most of those shinobi also don't care about how many lives would be ruined if the whole world tried what was tried in our homeland." Naruto explained.

"That seems somewhat of a dangerous outlook." Oobleck mentioned as they continued walking.

"Yeah, well can't blame them though. Shinobi were created to be super soldiers for fat greedy nobles and royalty. Shinobi killed each other for possibly centuries before they finally had enough and decided to make a change. Shinobi banded together and overthrew the old nobles and royals and replaced them. However by that point Shinobi were too used to action and fighting one another to sit still. So our whole society became based on the idea of potential and realization. Every shinobi has potential, some more than others, but only those who realize that potential and work hard to achieve it are truly respected. If you are filled with potential and let it go to your head then you are worse than someone with hardly any potential who works their ass off to reach it. In Fire Country it's called the will of fire. Probably a throwback to try and make shinobi patriots or something, but in all honesty it just means, the drive to better yourself for the benefit of the nation and your loved ones there." Naruto was smiling by the end of that remembering elder Sarutobi's memorial service a few years prior. He had pretty much just ripped off his dad's speech from the service to explain that. Pieced it together differently sure, but it was pretty much the same thing.

"I do suppose with that sort of origin, it is no real surprise that the different Elemental Nations remain rather tense with each other and the rest of the world." Oobleck said more to himself.

Naruto snorted at that, as if that was the only reason Shinobi were twitchy when dealing with the kingdoms. Oobleck caught the snort and realized exactly what the blonde found humorous and was a little embarrassed. To any historian the most easily gathered information about the elemental nations was their dislike of outside nations. Not for the simple fact of disliking outsiders, but largely do to the repeated attempts to control them. In the most horrifying case, aiding in the complete annihilation of one of the Shinobi states. Something that was pushed more on other parties than Atlas and Mistral which had played key roles in the massacre of arguably the most peaceful of the elemental league.

"Forgive me Naruto I forgot myself, that was rather rude to make such a comment." Oobleck was actually ashamed of his word choice now. The briefing Ozpin had given him regarding Naruto earlier that day had shed light on just how connected to that specific blemish on the kingdom's records the young prince was. It wasn't surprising either that the blonde might take issue with all of his people being largely considered bogey men simply for well earned paranoia.

"Don't worry about it. My mother would have throttled you, and my Grandmother would have at the very least sent you into the wall, but I have never even been to the ruins of Uzushio. Whole thing happened a few years before I was here." Naruto was telling himself that as much as he was Oobleck. It was stupid to him, but still he felt a deep seated anger about what had happened, to his mother's and great-great grandmother's side of the family.

"I still find it fascinating how different the members of your royal family, or I suppose just your family, act when compared to royalty from other corners of the world. Much more, approachable once one gets passed the veil of how intimidating shinobi and their lifestyles are." Bartholomew said, earning another snort from Naruto.

"Well, stuffy attitudes and snotty behaviour is just arrogance. A real shinobi has no place for that. Like I said, we got rid of our old monarchs for a reason, and it wasn't just because we don't like being told what to do by non-shinobi. Might be part of it though." Naruto spoke as he waved his hand like it was the obvious answer.

"It's just most royalty and nobility that still exist in the world try very hard to separate themselves from the common people of the nations. I had assumed your family would do likewise. However you seem to speak with others on a far more even ground than I expected." Oobleck asked a question without wording it that way but Naruto still heard it. 'Why do they think so differently from other royals.' Or atleast why did Naruto.

"Listen, Doctor Professor. Hmm, I think I'm shortening that to DP, yeah from now thats you." Naruto smirked viciously at the faintly twitching eyebrow Oobleck sported at the name.

"DP, it's like this, to shinobi value is everything. If something has no value, it's gotten rid of. That applies to everything, food, tools, ideals, people. Yeah especially people. You ever wonder why the elemental league has the second highest ratio of Faunus to humans in our population. It's got nothing to do with our closeness to menagerie. The real reason is because at the end of the day, Faunus have valuable traits. Most faunus have more powerful and precise sense, nearly all of them can see in the dark, and in some cases their bodies are just physically faster, more agile, or stronger than average humans. So when faunus came into the area, how do you think shinobi acted? The first chance they got they started bringing them into their families. My family has been fox faunus on my mother's side for generations. I have three friends whose entire clans are faunus. They didn't start that way, but they found a faunus with valuable traits and brought it into the bloodline." Naruto explained it but DP began to grow a grim expression.

"That sounds worryingly like eugenics." Oobleck said, and Naruto calmly nodded as they stopped in front of the door to his new room.

"My grandmother once said something along those lines. Something like the current shinobi nations was the product of the two most successful eugenics programs in history, recorded and unrecorded. She said it was a disgusting and wonderful thing at the same time. I just wouldn't think too much on it if I was you. You might start feeling disgusted, or worse inferior to shinobi. Wouldn't want that now would we DP!" With that Naruto laughed before closing the door to his new room behind him. This left Oobleck alone in the hall to think about the things he had learned so far from the blonde shinobi prince. Shaking his head he turned and began walking down the hall, though not before activating the sensor to the hall. It would alert him and Ozpin both should Naruto leave his room, or any movement in the hallway.

* * *

"You are insane." Glynda hissed at Ozpin. Were she any other person likely she would be shouting by now, but Glynda Goodwitch did not raise her voice unless driven over the edge. Surprisingly she was not yet passed the edge, just teetering on it.

"Now, no reason to be throwing accusations around, you know precisely why I am doing these things. I already explained the situation to you." The headmaster replied coolly as he flicked through some paperwork on his desk, not even looking up at the woman who appeared ready to pop a vein in her forehead.

"You explained nothing to me, all you said was that it was obvious that him staying here was part of whatever mission he had. Then you said we need to take this time to try and win him over so that we can gain leverage with Fire Country's shinobi. Why, why does that have anything to do with giving him a room on the top floor of the dorm building, why does that mean he will be given an escort, and why does that mean you will be placing those girls within arms reach of a killer?" Glynda was doing a surprisingly good impersonation of a snake which Ozpin found all too funny, though not even he was brave enough to let a laugh slip in front of this woman.

"Glynda, you have dealt with shinobi before, I have even sent you on a diplomatic mission to meet with them yes?" Ozpin asked, getting a confused nod from her.

"You know as well as I that the cult that launched a coup five years ago had ties to our own brewing problem here. Yet how did they react when you offered that information in the hopes of gaining their cooperation in getting rid of these organizations?" Ozpin asked, his half lidded eyes looking back at her now.

"They told us they appreciated the information but declined working with us. You yourself said it was a stupid mistake on their end, so why are we trying to make them work with us now, through one of your convoluted ideas?" She asked.

"Thats easy actually, you see, I was wrong. I thought it was a mistake on their end, but it wasn't it was just more of the same pattern, and it was my mistake to send you to negotiate with them at all. The moment you gave them the information we had gathered, which arguably wasn't much, they no longer needed us, and even if we might have information at a later time it wasn't enough to allow what we wanted." He lectured.

"What did we want, I thought we just wanted their cooperation in removing the threats and hopefully opening up future talks." Glynda sat down, now somewhat calmed.

"Oh we did, but we also wanted to be involved in the elemental nations. That alone immediately barred us from continuing with them. Now though, we have information and given enough time, a supporter in their own royal family." Ozpin smiled.

"That's why you want him to interact with Oobleck and team RWBY? Thats far fetched." Glynda scoffed.

"I want Oobleck to wear our young prince down and learn as much as he can about the shinobi nations. We know they had a large war two years ago, short but bloody, and fire country specifically had a large scale attack on it's capital that was partially organized as a coup. Again short but bloody. We don't even know the reason for these conflicts though. As for team RWBY, I highly doubt even a hardened veteran shinobi such as Naruto could hold out against the combined magnetism that is those four girls. I didn't just put them together randomly you know." Ozpin had gone back to his paperwork as he finished speaking while Glynda snorted quietly.

"Please you never do anything randomly. I know for a fact that you calibrated the launchers for the students to 'encourage' certain combinations by landing them near each other so they would become partners. You can't get that one passed me." As she stood to leave the room, having realized the discussion was more or less finished, she stopped.

"You call him a veteran, and I know he was an ANBU captain, but that boy is only seventeen. Shinobi have child soldiers but you know more about him than you are letting on." Glynda asked as she turned back around.

For a moment Ozpin was silent, focusing forward as if thinking about his words carefully. He slowly rose his mug to his lips and took a longer than average sip before focusing on the professor.

"From what Qrow told me earlier today, he picked up a piece of information about the young prince. Evidently he played an active role in both the fourth shinobi war that recently rocked the elemental league, and the coup attempt five years ago. I had doubted it until I talked with him face to face. Then I saw it. It reminded me of the recorded interviews from veterans of the great war. He isn't broken, or apologetic about his lifestyle or the fact that he has taken life before. He doesn't enjoy it either though. He is very interesting, but he is also very dangerous if pushed the wrong way." Ozpin finished with a sip of his drink again.

Nodding her head with his words Glynda checked her scroll to see if she had anything upcoming and realized it was nearly time to teach her class. Afterwards she would be escorting team RWBY to speak with Ozpin in person about what he had planned.

"Ozpin I hope your interest in him isn't blinding you to the danger he could be to the students here. I'll follow your lead on this though." She turned to leave, though Ozpin still heard the mumbled 'Just like I always do.' under her breath.

* * *

**Alright, I hope you enjoyed this installment, as you have probably guessed by now, this chapter could have had the first chapter tacked to the beginning of it as they both are more along the lines of setting things up. My only defense there is I am new to this so I posted a smaller chapter to more or less test the water. This is what most chapters will be like in length from now on. Thanks for reading and please review.**

**(Also, because I feel it necessary to bring up, I am well aware that Glynda Goodwitch is supposed to be a very professional and veteran huntress, however I am rolling with her being a barely contained hot head who was similar to yang in personality when she was young, and tries very hard to act all prim and proper now, even though it somewhat goes against her natural instinct. It's just fun to have banter between her and Naruto)**


	3. Ch 3 The Wrong Foot

**Hello once again folks with another chapter for the story. Yes it's been forever since I updated but let's ignore that and roll on into answering a couple of questions first before we truly begin. That being said, I know I was supposed to have **_**A Maelstrom Among Specters**_ **updated sooner than this puppy dropping, but I have rewritten chapter four of AMAS multiple times, finally making headway on it, but I really wanted to get something out so I wrapped this bad boy up. On to those Q&A's.**

**Q:Is Naruto the Villain in this story-A: Most definitely not, he is more manipulative and well rounded than our beloved blonde buffoon from the actual series however he does feel a little bit of guilt for manipulating others or killing others, however he is a shinobi and has been trained to be a shinobi his whole life, he saw that coming.**

**Q:Will the shinobi not have Jutsu, just Aura-A: They use jutsu, it has been explained already, though it would seem some didn't read that bit, that the difference between shinobi and others is that they have more or less surrendered the use of their aura and semblance in exchange for chakra. The advantages are obvious, however it can have psychological problems, thats why the majority of shinobi come from families of shinobi as they are better prepared.**

**Q:Why use Uzumaki-Namikaze-A: Simple in this story they are both dynasties of different Elemental Nations, and while Whirlpool is now more of a defunct vassal state of Fire Country, until only a generation ago it was only just behind some of the weaker big five in clout if not actual power. So to show connection to both thrones both names are used. In most of my ideas I just have Naruto use Uzumaki as his name for the simple fact that since in most of my stories there is no Namikaze clan Minato would likely take Kushina's last name in favor of continuing the nearly extinct noble clan. AT least that's my reasoning.**

**Q:Is there a pairing in this story?-A: Yep, you will likely figure out what it is pretty easily, however it will take time to develop as there is baggage surrounding it that will be an issue for everyone involved. Let's just say that the pairing I have planned is my favorite pairing for a Naruto-RWBY crossover. If ever writing other Naruto-RWBY crossovers it will probably end up being the same pairing unless I am going for something specific for the story. SOme may end up being unhappy with how I have this set to play out, but I am happy with it so I hope there will be those of you that like it too.**

**Q:Last one- Will Naruto become friends with team RWBY and start village relations with Beacon?-A: That is primarily something that will be found through reading the story. However I will remind you that Naruto is there on a job, that puts him into conflict with Beacon. That much has already been shown to the reader and Ozpin is aware there is more to Naruto's easy surrender in the forest than what initially appears. Both sides are just rolling the dice of playing coy with one another to try and figure the best way to get what they really want. Who will get what they want? Just read and you will eventually see.**

* * *

**Chapter Three: The Wrong Foot**

**Beacon Academy Headmaster's Tower**

The girls of Team RWBY were less than thrilled about not being able to return to their dorm room after class. They were tired and sweat soaked from combat classes for the day and each were looking forward to a nice shower to get properly cleaned up. Still it was only natural that they were curious as to the reason they were being called to the headmaster's office. Understandably nervous following the very public disagreement they had in Professor Port's class the first day. Both girls involved, Ruby and Weiss, had believed the issue was handled when they had both apologized to one another for their parts in the argument.

That being said Weiss had officially conceded to the fact that Ruby was the leader of Team RWBY, not that she honestly had much choice in the matter but that was neither here nor there. With that behind them the reason for their summons to the Headmaster's office was up in the air. While she hadn't voiced it to her teammates Blake was convinced it had something to do with Naruto. She had been shocked seeing him, and even more shocked by the thought of him remaining here as a prisoner. However she doubted it had anything to do with his status politically and more to do with the fact that Team RWBY were the only ones, as far as she knew, to have come face to face with a squad of Shinobi in the forest. Gone was the boy she had known so long ago and in his place was a true shinobi. The faunus girl couldn't properly flush thoughts of him from her mind, primarily questions about how much he had changed since they met when they were kids.

Finally arriving at the office, the girls each shared a look with one another. The painfully quiet walk through the halls had driven the point home that all four of them were trying to think about what was going on. Sadly they were all too nervous about it to discuss it and actually figure out what the situation was. When the door opened to the office though they found it more filled than they expected. Both Ozpin and Dr. Oobleck were already there and with Goodwitch leading them in the room was becoming rather crowded.

As they finished filling into the office Ozpin seemed to catch their eyes each individually before finally standing and greeting them.

"Thank you for coming. Now can any of you tell me why exactly it is that you four were brought up here?" Ozpin asked.

Again the four girls shared a glance with one another. Weiss stepped forward and hesitated only a moment before clearing her throat to speak. She was fairly certain that her disrupting the teamwork of Team RWBY when she got into an argument with Ruby was the issue they were about to be lectured about. Yet as she went to open her mouth Ruby cut her off.

"If it's about the fight me and Weiss had in Professor Port's class, Weiss and I already..." Ruby began only to herself be cut off when Ozpin lifted a hand.

"While I am happy that you are all adjusting to your teammates personalities, as well as learning to resolve your own disagreements like adults, that's not what I called you all here for. I highly doubt that you have forgotten the events that occurred in the emerald forest only a few days ago." Ozpin paused as all four of the girls grimaced at that. They had all been trying rather hard to forget what had happened, but it wasn't something you just forgot, nearly all of them lacked the true experience required to properly deal with what they had seen.

"Yes, while it was awful that you all had to witness that happen, I'm afraid to say he was rightfully killed by those masked individuals. You may or may not know that those were shinobi, with the one who was killed being a fugitive known as a rogue shinobi or missing nin. From what we have gathered the man was a fugitive who deserted his post in his home military before stealing dangerous secrets with the intent of selling them to members of the White Fang." As he said that the four girls each reacted differently. Weiss was a little confused, though also happy that whatever these dangerous secrets were, never made it to the terrorist organization that terrorized her family and company. Blake couldn't help but feel a little guilty, even though this event had nothing to do with her, she couldn't help feeling agitated though as she thought about all the trouble Adam's splinter group had caused over the last few years.

"Wait." Weiss interjected. "Why would faunus be trying to stop information from getting to the White Fang? That doesn't make…" Weiss closed her mouth with a click of her teeth when Blake all but hissed at her.

"How stupid do you have to be to assume all faunus back the White Fang?" The question was all but growled at Weiss from the disguised faunus. Before Weiss could retort though Oobleck interrupted them to stop a fight.

"Indeed, it's actually arguable that the White Fang target faunus that don't support them just as much as humans, some cells more so. They hate the prospect of those they consider 'their own kind' turning against them in an attempt to live a life in peace and coexistence. It's dreadful, simply dreadful." The green haired man shook his head at the shameful acts he was talking about.

Ozpin cleared his throat to regain the attention of the room. He had some things he needed to say, and he would rather they not get sidetracked. The girls had plenty of time to debate the political circumstance of the world later.

"The people that," Here he hesitated a moment before choosing his words carefully. "Eliminated, the rogue shinobi are a team of Hunter Shinobi. From what I can tell they actually fill a similar role to our Huntsmen and Huntresses. Though it's worth mentioning they are more geared towards hunting down dangerous criminals that are a threat to their home, and really only focus on Grimm if they would be a reasonable danger to whichever of the elemental nations they are from." Ruby perked up at that bit of information. Her mind went to the girl that looked near her age if a bit younger that was a part of their team.

"As you all likely know very little is known about the elemental nations where the shinobi originate. We do know that these nations have far less natural barriers to protect them than the four kingdoms. It's primarily through their armies and their shinobi warriors that they maintain their existence. That however means they also have a large surplus of soldiers and warriors which means they are often plagued with war making the region very dangerous and hard to live in." The Headmaster informed the gathered teens.

The four girls soaked that knowledge up. Ruby was interested in that. She couldn't help but be curious about what nations that were more focused on being like Hunters than anything else were like to live in. Yang was interested too, though she felt a bit wary at the fact that the elemental nations were evidently perpetually in a state of war. Weiss on the other hand is again confused. Her education at home hadn't touched much on the elemental nations, though she knew that dust sales were remarkably low there, at least for the Schnee Company. There were not many other suppliers of dust in the world, and none that she knew of that could supply a nation's military properly. She had heard that sales had recently picked up in the Land of Water over the last few years not that she knew why. Blake unlike the others knew a decent amount about the elemental nations. Menagerie interacted with them more than it did the kingdoms so there was bound to be some information exchange whether intentional or not. She was still very curious to learn more about the mysterious countries.

"Um, Professor Ozpin, what happened to the shinobi that surrendered himself for that girl. He was her brother right? Is he a prisoner or something?" Ruby asked causing Ozpin to smile ever so slightly.

"That Ms. Rose is actually why I have called you all here today. Thanks to the unfortunate series of events that occurred the other day we have been given the once in a generation chance to make a real bond between the elemental nations and the kingdoms. You might remember that young man is around your age, I would like for you all to interact with him." This caused shocked looks from three of the girls, and an eager and curious one from Ruby.

"Since you have all witnessed a slice of what it is like for a shinobi in life, you could form a bridge of companionship that could in the long run make ties to better combat the grimm threat. That is of course the main purpose of Hunters and Beacon itself." Ozpin sounded almost like a recruitment commercial there.

Behind the girls Glynda narrowed her eyes at the headmaster as he stretched the truth. She couldn't say she was unused to him attempting to manipulate people, especially students, to advance his political agenda. That didn't mean she had to like it though. It was obvious to both her and Oobleck that he intended to make a bond of friendship or more between the 'prince' and the four huntresses in training in the hopes of making the boy open up more and possibly slip-up and reveal his mission objective to them. Or just as likely knowing Ozpin try and recruit the boy as an ally.

Weiss stammered for a moment before gathering her usual decorum. "What's the point of doing this with some random foot soldier? It's not like that will actually open up a meeting with his government will it?" The thought of a nation bending over backwards for a single soldier in a foreign land didn't really sound realistic to her. The response she got just further frustrated her as Ozpin simply sipped at his coffee and Oobleck chuckled softly.

"That might have been true if he was just a random footsoldier, but he isn't, is he?" Blake asked, despite already knowing the answer.

"Yes, the young shinobi is actually Prince Naruto of Fire Country." Ozpin smiled slightly as three of the girls were shocked by the revelation. He and the other staff took notice of the fact Blake seemed to have expected that.

"I...I didn't realize the elemental countries were faunus nations like Menagerie." Weiss said.

"Actually," Oobleck began. "They are mixed, with a much larger ratio of faunus to human than in the kingdoms. Though they do have much smaller populations over all."

"Yes, from what the Prince has told us, Shinobi as a general rule care far more about an individual's value rather than their connections or whether or not they are human or faunus. Evidently that is also why the Crown Prince and the Princess are both members of their nation's military. You must understand that while the elemental nations are exceptionally beautiful with far more nature friendly environments than the urbanized hearts of the four kingdoms, they are much harsher living spaces. Thats why those that 'pull their own weight' as it were are highly regarded so even the son of the King must prove that he is skilled."

The girls nod along in understanding. Ruby was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet by now. She was extremely excited to meet someone who was essentially a huntsman in all but name in her eyes. Even more so that he was around their age. Yang too was interested in meeting Naruto, anyone willing to give themselves up for their sister seemed alright in her book. Weiss couldn't help but wonder if she made a good impression on him if she could win a new client for her company. No doubt her father would be thrilled from that and Winter would be extremely proud even if it was with a faunus. Blake was conflicted though. A great part of her was thrilled at the prospect of seeing Naruto again, but that also meant there was a risk of her being exposed and that thought terrified her.

Her worries didn't end there though. She couldn't imagine what Naruto's reaction to her would be. They had been friends once, sadly she had ruined that by running off with Adam and his splinter faction of the White Fang, though it was difficult to call them a splinter faction now with how large they had become in comparison to the slowly shrinking original group. She still remembered the argument she had with her parents just prior to her leaving and wondered if Naruto knew anything about what was said during that fight. It would no doubt break her heart if he had, her words had been more than cruel at that time. She had to shake the thoughts out of her head reminding herself she was at beacon and would become a huntress so that she could return home with pride and show her parents she had learned from her mistake.

"I will be counting this as the first mission for team RWBY." That alone caused Ruby to squeal in excitement. "It is imperative that you bond with the young prince and ensure that when the rest of the diplomats arrive from Fire Country that things go smoothly so that future generations of hunters and shinobi can cooperate in combating the Grimm threat together." Ozpin sounded once again like some sort of recruiter slightly irking his right hand woman.

Ruby of course was all for the plan, Weiss too was excited though more by the thought of expanding her company's reach into the elemental league. Yang actually was thinking more about the prince specifically. His sister had been good, though not near experienced enough in fighting multiple opponents allowing her and Blake to weaken the girl before the rogue shinobi laid into her. She couldn't help but want to spar with the boy to get a feel for what a shinobi with some more experience under their belt was capable of. That didn't mean she wasn't a little wary though. Unlike Ruby and Weiss who had only witnessed the tail end of the conflict with the Shinobi the other day, Yang had seen how ruthless and brutal even the supposed 'good guys' could be. She didn't want Ruby to be in danger if it came to a real fight with the shinobi warrior. Lastly Blake was still conflicted about her emotions. Hope, joy, fear, and anxiety warred in her mind as she thought about what they were being tasked with doing. She would be happy if they could open up the Hidden Leaf or even Fire Country as a whole to the kingdoms however she had met plenty of shinobi before, it was a rather slim chance of happening.

"Bartholomew if you would please retrieve Prince Naruto." Ozpin said giving the girls a few moments to soak in everything that they had been told.

At the moment Ozpin had to admit his arguably most eccentric Professor remained the best connection he had with Naruto. He fully intended to continue pushing that angle along with pressing these girls forward in the hopes of chiseling away at Naruto's impressive defenses to his schemes. Eventually Naruto arrived, surprising the girls as he was dressed in the male version of their school uniform minus the coat and tie. It wasn't like he could have just stayed in his combat armor for weeks. Though he did seem to be wearing his wire mesh undershirt below his clothes giving him at least a mild amount of protection.

"Ah, some introductions are in order. Prince Naruto, this is Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long. They make up Team RWBY under Ms. Rose and are first years at Beacon. I believe you may remember them from the unfortunate events in the Emerald Forest a few days ago. Girls this is Crown Prince Naruto Namikaze, also known as Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze as he is technically rightful heir to the land of Fire and Whirlpools, currently he is staying as a guest and temporary diplomat between Beacon and Vale and the Land of Fire and The Hidden Leaf." Ozpin said. It was a bit long winded, but his emphasis on what Naruto perceived once as pointless titles as a child, solidified the fact that Ozpin hoped to manipulate his home into an alliance of sorts through him.

Looking at the four girls, Naruto was quiet a moment, his surprise quickly changed to understanding visibly on his face, before it changed to confusion again before his eyes darkened and he shot a dark glare Ozpin's way. Unsettled by this change he turns his attention to Glynda as if looking for an answer only to watch as the woman's eyes suddenly widen and she too turns a dark glare onto the now extremely confused Headmaster. Clearing his throat to try and dissipate the tense atmosphere he turned his attention back to Naruto.

"Perhaps it's a good place to start a conversation by working out exactly what happened the other day in the forest. Naruto if you would please explain your point of view about what happened when our group first encountered yours." Ozpin said.

Naruto briefly held the same glare on the silver haired headmaster before he smiled slightly. A smile that Ozpin noted actually boded poorly for himself.

"Well then." Naruto began turning his attention fully to the girls in front of him. "Do you all already know what shinobi are?" He received nods from the girls.

"Ozpin said they are like hunters to an extent." Ruby commented.

"Ah I see, well actually let me give you a bit of a history lesson." Naruto began his eyes flicking toward Ozpin a moment. Beside him Oobleck seemed immediately intrigued by what the blonde was about to say.

"In our origins, Shinobi were slave soldiers who were the result of experiments committed by nobles in the area that makes up the modern elemental nations." The shocked looks on the girls and the grimace on Ozpin and Glynda's faces spurred Naruto on, he intended on making a point to Ozpin. It might be a bit of an abstract point but a point all the same.

"They didn't just do it to make us fight Grimm though, but also each other for their greed." He took on a sombre expression at that, he felt a little bad about picking on the girls by telling them such a vile bit of history moments after introduction. However the fact that he intended to make things hard on Ozpin right now and at the least remind him that he didn't appreciate the man's attempt here pushed him forward. There was also the fact that Oobleck was almost literally chomping at the bit for more information that kept him going.

"Originally the experiments weren't even allowed families, men and women were paired together for 'scientific' or political reasons." At that Naruto shot a look at Ozpin who returned a confused look until he glanced at the girls drawing Ozpin's own eyes with him. Suddenly realizing what had agitated the blonde shinobi earlier, believing the headmaster to be performing a disturbing form of bribe Ozpin shot a surprised glance at Glynda who he realized was watching his reaction like a hawk, as if deciding his fate. The fearless headmaster began to slightly sweat at the calculating stare she gave him. Subordinate she may be, but Glynda would not be merciful to him if she believed he was indeed manipulating the girls as bribes to the prince. Which he wasn't, not intentionally at least.

'_Then again if it works, perhaps.'_ He thought briefly before the icy glare of his right hand reminded him such tactics would most definitely not be worth the trouble.

"Eventually some family lines with desirable traits emerged. So like prized show horses shinobi were bred and managed by the nobles, some even keeping record books for their 'stables'. From their childhood they were taught to fight and die and if need be kill for their masters and shinobi became excellent in all three of those things." Naruto slowly shifted to a darker tone while speaking causing the youngest in the room to shy away from him. This caused Naruto to frown, a small bite of guilt reared it's head before he continued on. The poor girl was more squeamish than he had expected. What on earth was she doing at an academy for what amounted to highly efficient soldiers.

"So eventually we of course overthrew these nobles as making an army of enslaved supersoldiers was not the best idea if you had no way to stop them from killing you except for more enslaved supersoldiers. So the Shinobi caste became the ruling body for the elemental nations however after so long, eventually shinobi became very specialized. Now we only really know how to do what we were created to do. Common citizens do the infrastructural work and the rest of the things in our nations and Shinobi protect and lead them. In most places it is similar to you huntresses, then again we are much stronger simply looking at the fact that we have much more common conflict between the most dangerous threat to world peace then hunters do." Naruto had decided to run through the last bit of his pseudo-history lesson as quickly as possible so not to continue the uncomfortable atmosphere of the room.

"What's a bigger threat than Grimm?" Ruby suddenly asked.

"Humans." Blake answered only to get a vicious glare from Naruto that caused her to shrink in on herself.

"Not just humans, people, humans and faunus both." Naruto said while flicking his eyes at Blakes bow causing her to begin worrying that he would in fact reveal the truth about her being a faunus to the others.

"Most people are little better than Grimm if pushed even slightly. So, when someone breaks one of the most important laws of the shinobi of Fire Country and not only betrays their people but abandons them there is only one fate that waits for them." Naruto finished coming back around to what Ozpin had asked to begin with, his point of view of what had occurred in the forest. Justice plain and simple.

"That's barbaric. There should be some kind of court system surely." Weiss stated only to glare when Naruto scoffed at her.

"I will not have some schoolgirl lecture me on the ways of my people." He snapped at the white themed brat.

Weiss couldn't even formulate words for a moment. She was affronted by that simple statement alone.

"What makes you think you are so high and mighty, some arrogant prince of some backwater nation." Naruto smiled viciously at that comment though.

"I'm not arrogant. My beliefs that a shinobi is better than a huntsman has nothing to do with my status as a prince of a shinobi nation." This girl was going to be fun to pick at, so easy to set off.

Ruby tried to calm Weiss down, reminding her they were there to make up after what happened in the forest. That surprised Naruto a bit. However before he could focus on the other things Ruby was telling Weiss, Yang moved forward to better talk with him.

"Why was your sister there, she is even younger than Ruby is." Yang surprised Naruto yet again with her question. He hadn't really thought they would be interested in her, actually he partially hoped they wouldn't be as well. It was no secret back home how protective he was of his siblings, going so far as to bend some rules for them. With a sigh he decided to give her at least some answer.

"It was her initiation into the unit." That just confused Yang more though and she asked what he meant. Naruto sighs again and looks to Ozpin, but the man said nothing, most likely inwardly happy that Naruto was getting a bit of payback for starting off what was supposed to be a friendly discussion by immediately talking about atrocities from bygone eras.

"She is following in my footsteps. She hates living in my shadow so she pushes herself as a prodigy by trying to do everything I did but sooner. She has already far exceeded normal standards, but like a true shinobi that isn't good enough and one day she will be one of the greatest shinobi in history." He said that last sentence with a large amount of pride in his voice, something none of the others could miss.

While his obvious pride in his sister briefly showed through he quickly killed the emotion and took on an expression of boredom with the conversation though the slip was enough for even Ruby to catch. Both Glynda and Weiss felt slightly less hostile toward the blonde, though they still disliked him for their own reasons. Glynda still hated how easily he could get under her skin and Weiss simply despised his overall attitude. As if there could only be one arrogant heir on the campus.

"How can she kill someone and not feel anything?" Yang barely got the words out of her mouth before a hateful glare from Naruto caused her to flinch back.

Scoffing at the girl he turned away and walked to the door. "Don't be ridiculous. Shinobi aren't machines. We feel it, we just know what has to be done is more important than our own sense of self." Opening the door he turned to Oobleck. "Would you mind escorting me back to my room DP? I would really like some time alone right now." Oobleck twitched slightly at the name but nodded and led Naruto out.

"What was his deal, all I did was ask a question, no need to be so angry." Yang said.

"You pretty much asked him if his baby sister was some kind of emotionless kill happy monster." Blake said while glaring ever so slightly at her partner. Blake remembered the sweet little Narumi from years ago and once again guilt ridden nostalgia flooded her mind.

Yang cringed now realizing how badly she had put her foot in her mouth. Thinking back to the girl in question she remembered just how determined she had been in the fight. When she was so beat up and still her response was just to say that those that abandon the mission are trash. The bombshell felt a bit of guilt at how badly she had hurt the much younger girl, more so though she felt respect. It was amazing how hard some people could push themselves. That in itself sent her mind into questioning mode. Just what were these shinobi really like. One moment they came off as psychotic supersoldiers trained from birth, the next they were like honorable warriors from a fantasy story willing to do bad things for the right reasons. She wanted to learn more about them, they were intriguing to say the least.

Suddenly pulled from her thoughts Yang realized they had at some point returned to their dorm. Stepping into the room she listened as Weiss started mentioning she got a weird feeling from Naruto.

"It was like he had no aura, remember when we shook hands when we were introduced. There was no pull between our auras like normal. It just slid over him like he didn't have one." Weiss said.

"Maybe his aura is still locked?" Ruby asked, it made sense that was the same feeling they got from most civilians.

"His sister didn't have one either or at least it didn't protect her at all when we were fighting." Yang said.

"The same for the rogue shinobi, but then again maybe they just used theirs up." Blake joined the conversation.

"Tch, these shinobi think they are so strong when they don't even have unlocked auras." Weiss had had enough of Naruto's arrogant attitude when it came to his supposed fighting abilities.

Ruby and Yang were nodding along in thought while continuing the conversation, but Blake slunk past into the bathroom. She wanted to avoid the whole topic as much as possible. At any point the truth not only about her faunus nature but time spent with Adam's White Fang could come to light.

"Y'know even without aura though, that girl was tough. If she had no aura whatsoever and took that beating, that's saying something." Yang commented.

"She must be really strong, but I wonder what Naruto did that made her feel like she was in his shadow?" Ruby pondered.

"It's probably arrogance on his part, for all we know his sister is a prodigy and he is a failure." The Schnee heiress said. She was more or less done with the conversation and was gathering clothes together to wear after her turn in the shower.

"I don't think so, he had all those shinobi under his command." Yang said.

"He is a prince isn't he? Surely that means they have to follow him whether he is strong or not." Weiss responded and the group dropped the conversation there. However while Weiss wrote the shinobi off as a weakling, Yang and Ruby were a little more worried about the possibility of how strong he was.

* * *

**Wilderness **

**Border of the Land of Iron and the Mistralian Frontier Territory**

Qrow Branwen was travelling through the forests north of the Elemental League. Most visitors to the region were limited to the foreign districts of the elemental nations largest towns and cities. They were completely walled off and separated from the rest of the nations they were in, so to actually learn anything worthwhile about the elemental nations Qrow had realized he had to come in and out through the wilderness far from any kind of actual settlement. So, ever since Ozpin had notified him initially about the Prince of Fire Country being picked up at Beacon he had been coming and going through these rough mountain passes in his bird form every few hours.

He had honestly not had that hard of a time of it. From the rumors he had picked up at small bars and one very nice brothel in the western part of Lightning country, the nations had all placed more of the border security and patrol onto the regular military forces because the shinobi forces had been severely diminished after recent warfare. Actually slipping into one of the hidden villages was next to impossible though. The best he had managed was to transform into a bird and do a fly over. He would have landed however the moment he flew within a certain distance to the most ornate of the towers shinobi seemed to start appearing in massive numbers searching the sky and the streets for him. The simple fact they had so easily detected him had sent him scurrying back to outside the village.

Now though he was on his way home. The plan was to head to Mistral and catch a ride back to Beacon. Ozpin wanted him there when the supposed diplomats from Fire Country showed up. It was as if the man didn't trust them without Qrow around to back him up. Not surprising really. Either way that left the male half of the Branwen twins rushing to get back with what intel he had managed to scrape up. It wasn't much, a bit showing a connection between a shady organization supposedly in Mistral and small time terror groups in the elemental league. Sadly none of it really connected to the people Ozpin had deemed their enemy. So as it was flimsy possible ties between the splinter faction of the White Fang and this shadowy enemy Ozpin kept mentioning were just about all they had to run on. It was frustrating working without any concrete leads, however it did seem that possible threats multiplied daily. Over the last ten years rogue shinobi numbers had evidently been on the rise. The worrisome thought of Shinobi siding with their enemy had been bothering him lately. Even just a band of rogue shinobi combining with the White Fang spelled a massive threat. They already had the numbers with their White Fang, the expertise of shinobi wouldn't just multiply them into a threat worth noticing it would make them an army capable of making overt moves. If a faction of shinobi decided to join forces with them in some sort of alliance it would be disastrous, they would have trouble even defending Beacon, which despite its school days appearance had advanced defenses and a veritable army of huntsmen and huntresses to call on.

Qrow didn't get to ponder for long as he realized someone was in fact stalking him. They had been for a while too from what he could tell. That thought caused him to curse under his breath, was he getting old or were they just that good? Dear Oum he hoped it was the former then he could retire and spend his days wasting away on one binder after another rather than dealing with some stranger stalking him in the woods.

As he stopped and turned to confront the group Qrow was a little startled by the uniforms the figures in front of him wore. There were five of them, though only two really stood out. Three of them wore black shinobi flack vests with red headbands with a single cloud symbol imprinted on it. They each had another headband wrapped around their arms, two showing the leaf symbol for the Hidden Leaf and another showing the symbol for the hidden cloud, which unlike the marker on his forehead bore several cloud shapes. The two that stood out though wore the full robes of their organization. Long black dusters with several red clouds scattered across them. Members of the recently reorganized Akatsuki. A group of peacekeepers that he had quickly learned were both famous and infamous around the elemental nations.

Even in small villages Qrow had learned about the organization. As well as the most notable members. So standing before him were none other than two of the ten fingers that made up the Akatsuki's leadership. Sasuke Uchiha and Karin Uzumaki. The Uchiha's trademark eyes seemed be monitoring even his slightest twitch. The Uzumaki girl was likely the one who had been guiding them this entire time. It seemed he wasn't getting too old, if the rumors were true it wouldn't have mattered how alert he was, the girl could sense another's aura for ridiculous distances. She was the best of the best when it came to that sort of thing. Made sense why they promoted her to a finger position when Akatsuki reorganized a couple years ago.

To say the silent staring contest between Qrow and Sasuke was intense was just as correct as saying it was long and pointless. Both men just stared at one another, Sasuke trying to tell what kind of threat the huntsman was and Qrow idly pondering the situation he was in.

"What are you doing walking the border of an Elemental League nation? Foreigners aren't permitted to enter as they please here." Sasuke's voice remained cool and collected.

"Oh you know just out for a walk is all." Qrow drawled. What did the kid expect, an actual answer, c'mon did he ever get a straight answer to something like that? Sasuke's gritted teeth and faint grunt seemed to confirm he in fact did expect a real answer.

"In accordance with the Elemental League Treaty any and all foreigners found in the elemental nations outside of the designated zones without proper permit are to be detained and returned to the nearest hidden village for questioning." With that Sasuke's team began to fan out, Karin backing off slightly as she was less of a combat oriented shinobi than Sasuke and the three subordinates that had accompanied them.

"Is that what you intend to do then?" Qrow asked, it was time to really test what these peacekeepers were capable of.

"Will you come under your own power, or under mine?" Sasuke asked. Though he was already reaching for the sword he expected to need.

As a response Qrow simply drew his own weapon, the sword unfolding to its full extent.

"So you are set on this course then? Very well." Sasuke couldn't help the slight smirk on his face at the prospect of fighting another swordsman. With that Sasuke flickered towards his opponent almost too quickly for the man to register.

Qrow brought his sword up just in time to parry the blade Sasuke swung and was surprised to feel his hand go slightly numb as Sasuke channelled a low level lightning jutsu through his blade.

As the two men locked swords briefly the larger and stronger blade in Qrow's hand won out, shoving Sasuke back and causing the younger man to again flicker out of Qrow's sight. Qrow was simply shocked by the young man's speed, however he stepped up his own game in response. He suddenly bent backward at the waist to avoid a swipe from Sasuke's sword before coiling around and launching a stab with his own blade. The counterattack forced the Uchiha back before he once again flickered out of sight only to appear behind Qrow with a downward swing, again easily blocked by the more experienced swordsman.

"You know you really aren't going to make much progress holding out on me kid." Qrow taunted as he forced the smaller man to stumble back under their weight before surprising him with a lightning quick slice to the side. It wasn't fast enough to actually snag the shinobi however it cut a fine line through his coat.

"If I wanted you dead I would have killed you before you knew we were following you. My orders are to arrest with as limited injuries as possible, so that's what I plan on doing." Sasuke responded before spinning around Qrow, avoiding a slice and countering with a thrust of his blade only for it to be parried forcing him to dodge around a responding thrust from the huntsman.

Around them the other shinobi watched on with anticipation. They had formed a perimeter around the combat area in case the huntsman made a run for it, and Karin was cursing under her breath, her fox ears twitching in irritation. She had let loose several senbon, but everytime she seemed to have an opening some kind of accident would happen that kept her weapons from hitting their mark. Twice now she had slipped somehow and her aim had been off, twice more a bird had flown into the trajectory of her needles. What was the probability of that even happening?

"You know for a shinobi you really aren't using many tricks of the trade. I thought you people were all about sneak attacks and underhanded tactics. Something like this." Qrow said as his sword transformed suddenly and point blank blasted Sasuke in the chest with some odd type of ammunition. Less than a blink of an eye later that same round burst into dozens of flares causing all of the shinobi to flinch and protect their eyes.

By the time they had turned around Qrow had transformed into a bird and flown off. They could still see him, his wings beating hard.

"Lets give chase!" Karin began only to stop when Sasuke put a hand on her shoulder.

"No we won't catch him before he fully crosses into Mistral territory and the Akatsuki doesn't have the backing to operate outside of the elemental nations. Besides, our objective has been completed. Let's return to the hidden leaf and see your cousins, not to mention it's been too long since I saw my own family." The Uchiha spoke.

With a nod Karin followed after him. The rest of the team shortly behind them.

"He cut you. You were being arrogant." Karin sighed as she spotted the now sizeable hole on the side of Sasuke's robe.

"Hmm just my coat, but you're right I was being arrogant a bit probably. He is better than he seems though, he was holding back just like I was. I couldn't get a good read on how good he was besides the fact he was very good." Sasuke said as they continued to tree hop. Soon they would reach the higher peaks of the mountains that formed the barrier between the Land of Iron and Mistral's Frontier Territory. That meant snow and cold air which caused the fox faunus of the group to grimace at the thought. She was not looking forward to that at all.

Sasuke's mind was less focused on the terrain and more on the situation. He knew he wasn't being told the full scale of the plan that Naruto's mother had cooked up. Or he assumed it was his mother, that was where Sasuke assumed his friend got his more devious side from. Thinking about it, was it really a surprise that Naruto was as unpredictable as he was? With the brilliance of his father and the often ridiculous out of the box thinking of his mother it was no wonder he excelled in their line of work. Still Sasuke couldn't quite comprehend the full game plan of why they were going through all this trouble.

He and Karin had been asked by Kushina personally to confirm the identity of the huntsman snooping around the elemental nations. From the way she had spoke she had fully expected it to be Qrow Branwen. From what Itachi had told him later, there wasn't much on the man compared to most of the Huntsmen and Huntresses that tiptoed around the elemental nations. They knew the basics, went to beacon, works directly under Ozpin, and that his sister was the infamous Raven Branwen, a woman who had taken advantage of the chaotic state of the elemental nations two years ago to raid northern and western regions in the league.

How did that in anyway tie Naruto being at Beacon to any sort of plan. Were they planning on taking down Beacon. If so Sasuke was certain Minato would have put a stop to it by now right? Despite their skill and a possible homefield advantage, if a shinobi was even implicated in the destruction of the practically hallowed ground that was Beacon academy, heads would roll across the elemental nations. They simply couldn't compete with the numbers and technology of the kingdoms.

Whatever was going on Sasuke knew rough times were ahead. He had the same building tension in his gut that he did before Orochimaru's invasion and before the fourth shinobi war. That didn't bode well.

* * *

**Village Hidden in the Sound**

**Hidden Laboratory #3**

**Former Land of Whirlpools**

The last few years had been hard for the followers of the Pale Snake. His cult had made amazing advances only to be set back time and again. When he finally built up enough shinobi followers, even if few supported his dream of godhood unlike his non-shinobi supporters, he had launched his vision of taking vengeance against those fools in the Hidden Leaf. The death of his teacher had been bitter sweet. The old monkey faunus had managed to delay and injure him to the point the assault was beaten back by that blond bastard's shinobi forces. The bastard's brat had even defeated his special weapon in the form of Gaara Sabaku. Years of manipulating the Hidden Sand and Land of Wind were thrown away the moment that failed experiment switched sides.

Later when he had hoped to cultivate dissidence among the protectors of the royal family by seducing Sasuke Uchiha with dreams of power to surpass his elder brother, he was rewarded with the duck haired runt trying to murder him while he was ill. It had taken over a year to even recover from the injuries he got from that battle. While he had been laid up recovering his protege had led his forces into one blunder after another by siding with that mad man Madara. Scum like that should leave the prospect of godhood to the deserving. Men of vision like himself, not old fools obsessed with false prophecies.

Still though his greatest frustration remained Kabuto himself. The boy had indeed been like a son to him, even if he did have a legitimate daughter that despised everything about him. Ungrateful brat that she was. Kabuto had shown his genius by copying the same experiment he himself had performed, succeeding by an extent Orochimaru couldn't even achieve. That was the heart of his frustration with the medi-nin under his care. He was not supposed to ever actually surpass him.

Orochimaru had intended for Kabuto to be his most loyal lieutenant decades ago. The moment he had seen him in that orphanage and read of the skill he had controlling his chakra he had decided he would own the boy. It hadn't been hard to manipulate him and the matron of the orphanage into eventually fighting to the death. All it really took was making her believe Kabuto had grown up to look slightly different than the boy she was fighting. Then a few well placed lies framing one of the elders of the Hidden Leaf for what happened and voila perfect loyalty.

Yet now looking at the boy he barely held back the sneer that tried to push it's way onto his face. Orochimaru's dream of becoming the perfect being, of becoming a god by enhancing his body was achieved far more closely by his underling than himself. Whereas the gene modification he had subjected himself to had made him very similar to his late wife and estranged daughter by giving him the features of a snake faunus, Kabuto had taken it a step further. He had enhanced the modified genes to not only make his body accept the changes forced upon it, but also to adapt and alter the changes almost naturally. His appearance had become far more snakelike than even Orochimaru or his family. His senses such as the ability to sense body heat of others as well as his eyesight and smell had strengthened by stunning amounts.

Those things however weren't what irked him most. No, the thing that truly bothered Orochimaru about Kabuto's progress was his skill that was quickly exceeding what he had planned for him. Kabuto was becoming a well beloved figure among those that still followed them. It shouldn't have been surprising. For as vicious as Kabuto could be, he still minutely hesitated at the prospect of taking life. Unfortunately for his victims, not long enough for them to be spared, except in the case of one annoying thorn in their collective side in the shape of the Crown Prince of the Hidden Leaf. Had Kabuto simply been the dutiful and bloodthirsty peon he was supposed to be, the fox eared brat would have been six feet under before his thirteenth birthday.

Kabuto somewhere deep inside remained the small boy that had dreamed of being a doctor like the orphanage matron had wanted him to be. That was deep inside him though, the rest of Kabuto had been molded in Orochimaru's image until now, day by day he seemed closer to the godhood that Orochimaru's cult followers had originally sought for the Pale Snake himself. The boy had a kindness that was rare but still present unlike his master which oddly enough somehow convinced some of the cult's followers that Kabuto was the one they held their loyalty to.

Still such infractions against his greatness could be forgiven, Kabuto had simply been doing as Orochimaru requested of him after all. Even in altering himself like Orochimaru had, Kabuto hadn't been seeking power for power itself like the Pale Snake. No he had been simply trying to fill his master's shoes as best as possible while said master was recovering from an attempted murder.

What Orochimaru was less inclined to forgive was the boy doing things behind his back, like forging alliances with groups Orochimaru had no wish to involve himself with. Now in his throne room, the ruined former royal palace of the Land of Whirlpools, Orochimaru sat staring at the three people in front of him.

The first was Kabuto, his scaled white skin with a purplish tint reflected the light from windows to make his visage all the more eerie. His head was humanoid though slightly misshapen with his neck slightly elongated and ridges running from his adam's apple to the base of what were once ears. His eyes were slitted and almost glowed an unnatural yellow with purple scales formed around them.

Beside him stood a younger man, a true faunus, a bull it seemed. The boy hadn't stopped scowling since Orochimaru first saw him. He looked troubled by the appearances of the two, though troubled or down right hateful could be argued. The leader of the now largest White Fang faction was understandably furious to be dealing with what he considered abominations. However he kept his mouth shut as he glared.

The last person was the most intriguing one. Some random girl, an attractive one, but nonetheless random and unknown. The Pale Snake absolutely despised when he didn't know something. She was dark haired with amber eyes and as mentioned earlier struck an attractive and even seductive figure. However what truly drew Orochimaru's attention to her was the odd power emanating from her. He could sense it in the very air. A sort of heat rolled off her in waves. Invisible to the eye, and imperceptible beyond a sense of power to most. However Orochimaru was beyond most. He could tell the power she seemed to possess came unnaturally to her. Her body language spoke volumes, she was confident, and well trained but still inexperienced.

What was most interesting though was that Taurus seemed to defer to this stranger. Orochimaru had no qualms admitting that Adam Taurus was a dangerous opponent in battle, and even more so in grander fields having a literal army at his beck and call. While the faunus stood no chance against himself in a one on one fight, should their two organizations come to conflict with one another, Orochimaru had no doubt his forces would lose. They simply didn't have the numbers anymore. Nothing more than skeleton crews manned the six other complexes he had hidden away in the elemental nations, and nearly all of the forces he had left had made their new home here in what was once the home of the Hidden Leaf's closest allies. Both the first and current queens were natives of Whirlpool after all.

"Lord Orochimaru," Kabuto began his introductions. "The guests before you are Adam Taurus, leader of the True White Fang. Beside him is Lady Cinder Fall, a leading member of the underworld of the Kingdoms. Both have been wishing for an audience with you for a while." Kabuto's smug grin plastered on his face nearly set Orochimaru off. Still, once again, he reigned it in and forced a sickening smile onto his face.

"The pleasure is mine I assure you both. Lady Cinder, what is it exactly you lead if you don't mind my asking?" Orochimaru said politely, in all honesty he would have preferred to just experiment on the girl to figure out what the odd power coming from her was and then maybe turn her into one of the drones he liked to unleash when he moved locations. The only thing stopping him was the way her compatriot acted towards her.

As Orochimaru had noticed earlier, Taurus seemed to defer to her if his body language was anything to go by. The Pale snake doubted it was simply a matter of personal power, the White Fang may be able to elude the authorities easily enough but that was because they could melt away into the populations of the kingdoms almost seamlessly. In truth if Taurus wanted he could no doubt make a play for his own throne among the minor nations of the world, as long as the four kingdoms stayed out of his way.

Now this girl, one Orochimaru had never heard of, and one who Kabuto stupidly referred to as simply 'a leading member of the underworld', seemed to worry the faunus and hold power over him. That made her a threat and Orochimaru absolutely hated unknown threats. How exactly a girl that was supposedly influential enough to gain control of the white fang slipped through his information network worried him.

"Oh, Lord Orochimaru, no it's us that must assure you that this is a rare pleasure. To meet someone on the path to godhood, it's, well really it's inspiring to meet someone with such a lofty goal as yours. I personally would never dream of striving for something like that. Then again I serve a goddess so I suppose I already know my place. Perhaps when you achieve your dream she will deem you worthy to speak to you herself." Cinder spoke casually though there was plenty of unhidden threat in her voice to make her point obvious. Orochimaru's eyes narrowed and his fanged grin wavered briefly before reasserting itself and the pale snake let out an odd imitation of laugh.

"Yes perhaps, it would be nice to meet someone else with actual ambitions for a change rather than being met by lackeys time and again." Orochimaru's internal thoughts matched his outward smile when he saw the flicker of anger at his dig toward her in Cinder's eyes.

"Now being as you didn't answer my first question, maybe you will answer this one; What is it that you want." The fake smiles finally died off the lips of the gathered parties. The coy game of not-so-veiled insults was over.

"Straight to business, I do so like a man who goes after what he wants. In return for that I will be up front with what we want. It's simple we would like for you to join our little collective. I believe you realize by now what sort of resources we could offer you in exchange for your cooperation." The smile now on her face was more fitting for a predator hunting it's next meal, or perhaps a politician in a backroom deal.

Orochimaru sized Cinder up at that moment. She was a confident one that was for sure. As inexperienced as she was with whatever power she wielded, when it came to dealing with other criminals and fugitives she seemed at home and completely sure of herself. That was interesting. Orochimaru couldn't help but wonder what kind of life this girl lived. The average person in the elemental nations considered the citizens of the kingdoms as weaklings living opulent lifestyles behind impenetrable walls. Obviously that was a mix of misinformation, exaggeration, and bias. Most shinobi knew the truth, only the heart of the four kingdoms could boast easy lifestyles, and even then the cities there were large, no, when compared to the cities in the elemental nations they were megalithic in size and population. The massive population centers were rife with crime and poverty in some areas just as much as they sported unbelievable wealth in others. This girl was from that impoverished part of the kingdoms, or at least she had grown up around it. That was the only real information Orochimaru could gather about her past so far. He was truly interested in this girl who had just appeared on his doorstep and somehow had connections across the criminal world.

The more important thing that he could draw from this meeting though was that Cinder had pull in places that he needed such pull. He had no doubt she could help him in his endeavors if he agreed. However, what exactly was she demanding in return. Simply joining their...confederation, seemed far too small an achievement for access to the resources of the rest of their group. What exactly did she want in return.

"That is a very intriguing offer Miss Fall, perhaps you can elaborate for me on what exactly your collective entails? What is it your group would desire of me? Surely not just my partnership." Orochimaru kept his eyes narrowed on Cinder while Kabuto seemed to shift uncomfortably, for the first time realizing that he would likely be punished for having failed to inform his master on his invitation to these two before today.

"I'm glad you asked, Lord Orochimaru." Cinder's smile matched the Pale Snake's as the two toyed at the tension in the room. Neither a stranger to such things and easily capable of ignoring it in favor of their business. "You see, over the course of the next year, I intend to achieve a select few things, among them a weakening of the four kingdoms as a whole. That and some of the elemental nations as well."

Orochimaru's eyes widened briefly at that before he schooled his features again. What reason did she have of weakening the kingdoms, or even more so what reason did she have to weaken the elemental nations? What exactly was her game?

"Well, Miss Fall, I must say you are ambitious, though perhaps ambition without good reason is not worth the trouble hmm?" Orochimaru prodded her for an answer to his real question.

"Oh, there is plenty good reason. I'm sure you are as aware as I am of how defunct and ridiculous the current systems in place are. Why do the weak continue to rule over the strong? I know you have attempted a few times to change things here in your homeland, well I plan on doing the same in mine. I simply believe that for the coming revolution, or in your case ascendence a partnership between our groups is prudent. You scratch our back we scratch yours. You help us with some more skilled fighters, we help you with manpower. Among other things of course." Cinder smiled confidently up at the Pale Snake as she spoke, all the while motioning with her hands to try and show her passion for the plan.

Orochimaru was a genius. He had always been considered ahead of the curve when it came to things such as reading others or understanding an abstract concept. It was only because of that advantage coupled with nearly six decades of experience that he was able to see the brief instances of doubt in Cinder's small speech. Within moments his mind came to several conclusions once again. The plan was not hers. She did not fully agree with what she intended to do. She doubted its success to an extent, and whoever this individual she served was, they were a dangerous one if they intended to overthrow the entire system of the world.

"I see." Orochimaru said calmly. "I will take your offer into consideration, Kabuto will contact you when I have reached a decision. Kabuto show them out, then return here. We have much to discuss regarding this meeting and other things." Orochimaru's eyes took on a dangerous light while staring his lieutenant down at the end of his orders.

Kabuto nodded and led the two guests away. He knew he was going to be getting some sort of punishment for not informing Orochimaru earlier about the meeting, yet he wondered if the pale snake was considering the possibility of joining with Cinder's group. He could see only positives from it. They wanted the same things after all didn't they?

Surely it would be of little issue to usurp this woman Cinder answered to, when the time was right. Lord Orochimaru had proven to be nothing if not patient.

* * *

**Beacon Academy**

Team RWBY slowly got up and around for the day. As the fifth and final day of classes of the week the four girls had a late start with an extra hour and a half before the start of their first class of the day. They each just finished dressing when a knock at their door was heard leading Ruby to open it and take a surprised step back at the sight of the pair in front of her.

Doctor Oobleck smiled warmly at the first year girls before him before greeting them. Behind him Naruto instead leaned against the hallway wall and looked put off entirely while picking at the seams of his temporary uniform. It was very clear he disliked how the clothing felt while wearing it.

"Oh, Professor," Ruby began.

"Ahem, Doctor." Oobleck corrected getting a snort from Naruto nearby which led to a weak glare being sent his way by the older man.

"Doctor. I meant Doctor really." Ruby Stammered briefly. "What are you doing here?" She asked.

By now the other girls on her team had gathered. Weiss greeted the teacher while shooting a superior look at Naruto that sent him into chuckles, causing her to fume. Yang was still half asleep and was only partially aware of the situation, sending a lazy wave to the two men. Lastly Blake had all but ignored her Professor to repeatedly glance at Naruto then back at the floor. Something that was annoying the aforementioned boy as she was partially trained as a Shinobi.

'_Honestly, I know she can mask her body language far better than this, what the hell is with her?' _Naruto thought as he pointedly looked away from the ravenette. Which inadvertently caused her to stress out about what Naruto would do even more.

"I'm glad to see you all awake and prepared for class. I have come to walk with you, as Prince Naruto will be accompanying you to your classes today." Oobleck explained.

Before the girl's could properly express their opinions on the matter though they were somehow snagged by the green haired man and whisked down the hall followed by an exasperated Naruto. The blond was beginning to fear for his sanity as he had already grown to consider such an action by the eccentric teacher normal.

As the day wore on, Naruto did indeed attend classes with Team RWBY. He found the classes exceptionally boring and tedious affairs, but despite displaying himself as aloof and often times asleep during the classes, Naruto had in fact been paying attention. What better chance to study, both the education of hunters in training while also studying the various faculty of Beacon, each of which was a fully realized Hunter of especially high quality.

While the classes gave him little in the way of their strengths and weaknesses on the battlefield, it did give him insight into their personalities. As he had before with those used to interrogate him, Naruto had narrowed down the quirks and personality weaknesses of each of his imagined opponents. Without seeing them in a fight, he remained exceptionally wary of them. However his mind instinctively began crafting strategies, not just for the various teachers, but also the students and their team combinations as well.

He hadn't expected to need any of those strategies so soon though.

"You want me to what?" Naruto asked the obviously delusional silver haired man before him.

"I would like it if you and Team RWBY would spar as a demonstration of the various techniques from your neck of the woods so to speak." Ozpin reiterated between sips of his mug.

"Ah, see I had thought you were just naturally gray haired but it must really be age, because you are most definitely senile if you think I would agree to that. Did you want dead kids on your fancy arena floor?" Naruto replied with an annoyed expression as he slumped lazily back into his seat.

"Pfft, I should have known you were a coward, all talk." Weiss said as she began to turn away from their small gathering.

"Listen Snowflake, I doubt you could scare a toddler, I just don't want your pimp here breathing down my neck for smearing your pretty face up and down his newly polished floor."

"This coming from someone who hasn't even unlocked their aura? You really are delusional." The Schnee said with a superior look, as if believing she had come onto some great secret the Prince had.

Naruto paused a moment, then a small smirk broke out on his face. Slowly he stood and made his way over to the headmaster. The two spoke quietly, too quietly for even Blake to catch before Naruto stepped away and began removing his shirt.

"Alright Snowball, you girls are on. I just got the confirmation that whatever happens here happens here. So I think its time I showed you just why Shinobi trump Hunters." Naruto said in a taunting voice.

This had the expected reaction. All day, Naruto's apparent disdain for Beacon and it's residents had slowly wore on the rest of team RWBY as well. Even Blake felt annoyed by Naruto's apparent arrogance and was ready to knock him down a peg. The same could be said for Naruto though. Weiss had gone out of her way to mock the Shinobi, despite the insistence to stop from her team leader in nearly every class.

As the girls smirked and disappeared into the locker room to change into their combat attire, Naruto himself changed clothes right there before the rest of their audience, which only included the rest of the first year class. Leaving his pants on Naruto unbuttoned the shirt before tossing it to the side leaving him in a tight tank top which he also removed tossing it over with his shirt.

This exposed to his remaining viewers his uncovered upper body. Something that shocked them. It was cut to a degree that only the most dedicated of athletes could achieve, but also sported a myriad of scars and tattoos. As he retrieved the metal rod that would stand in as his weapon for the match, being that Ozpin was not ready to trust him with blades yet, Team RWBY returned, only now hesitating in their confidence to throttle the arrogant boy.

Now seeing him without a long sleeved shirt hiding much of his body, the girls recalled the terrifying warrior he had seemed to be in the Emerald Forest. The brand like tattoo on his left shoulder appearing like two waves crashing into another helped to define the surprising amount of muscle his arms bore. That combined with the scars of what appeared to be multiple near fatal injuries caused the girls to have second thoughts.

Stepping into the arena proper, Naruto spun the rod around his body with the skill of a trained fighter, further confirming their worries that they may have made a mistake. While they contemplated the difficult fight ahead, Naruto cursed at his own pride. He knew that Ozpin had purposefully orchestrated this whole thing to better gauge his combat abilities, but still he had barely put up a resistance to fighting the girls of Team RWBY when given the chance. He had to blame the Schnee, people like her always seemed to irk him in all the right places to get him to act rashly like his childhood self. It was part of why he modeled his false personality as a mirror image. It was annoying and nearly everyone wanted to fight the douchebag they thought he was.

"So are we doing this or what?" Naruto asked the girls as they tentatively stepped into the arena before him.

"I will referee this match between Team RWBY of Beacon and Prince Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze of FIre Country. This is a spar, that means no killshots, and you will cease combat upon my decree, is that understood?" Ozpin said while lowering a hand into the space between the Shinobi and Huntresses.

"Yes." The girls responded as one.

"Yes." Naruto said. Though his voice was a quiet hiss and his eyes had seemingly faded to a much colder blue. His body fell into a combat stance and suddenly it became very hard for Team RWBY to breathe.

It was as if his entire demeanor had changed. Like he had become a different person and this person was terrifying. Naruto had surrendered to the fact that Ozpin would be getting a free show of what a Shinobi was capable of, and so he flipped the switch. If the old man wanted to see what a shinobi was capable of, then Naruto would oblige him.

"Begin!" Ozpin shouted as he lifted his hand.

For a brief moment nothing happened. Then, the moment the girl's shifted to take aim with their ranged weapons and utilize their advantage, Naruto hurled the rod in his hands end over end like a sideways windmill, with incredible force and speed. RWBY barely had time to dodge out of the weapons way but were caught by the true attack that followed right behind the staff.

Landing just behind the rod as it impaled the ground, Naruto lashed out with a kick planting a foot into the chest of the surprised Ruby slamming her into an equally surprised Weiss, rocketing them both into the Arena's wall nearby causing their Aura's to flash intensely after taking excessive damage in that single blow.

The Shinobi didn't waste a moment, ripping the staff from the ground he spun it and brought it viciously down onto Blake, only for the rod to pass through the clone she had left in her wake. Widening his eyes at that, Naruto instinctively brough the staff up to block Blake's attack with her blades before spinning and slapping her away by using the rod like a bat.

He wasn't given a moment to rest as suddenly Yang was on him, hair glowing in fire and gauntlets roaring to life. Only for her charge to end prematurely as Naruto sidestepped her overextension and brought his leg up to fold her over his shin before sending her sprawling back toward her partner.

Again Naruto had to act on instinct, leaning forward at nearly ninety degrees to avoid being bisected by Ruby's scythe. He immediately countered by dropping to his hands and kicking out with both feet directly into the poor girl's jaw. The only reason it didn't shatter from his attack was because of her aura. Still the violent strike sent her flying backward, only narrowly missing the Schnee heiress as she flew past.

Turning toward the white haired girl, Naruto's blank facial expression and cold calculating eyes froze her giving him more than enough time to lash out with his staff crack her across the head. With that, Weiss Schnee was put to sleep, as her aura capped out and she was sent crashing into the floor.

"What the hell are you?" A voice cried out beside him as it's owner launched another series of frontal attacks that were easily avoided.

Yang, was heavily influenced by her semblance at the moment, but her aura was heavily depleted from just the kick he had given her, Blake likewise had suffered a severe chunk of her aura being depleted. However together the girls were finally rallying against their opponent.

Blake's sudden appearance in his peripheral vision had Naruto blocking an expected strike to his side only for the clone to disperse and a slash to his opposite side drawing blood against him for the first time.

Even with his wound though Naruto simply lashed out with an elbow that caught Blake in the throat dropping her gasping for air to the floor. Bringing his foot back around like a whip he landed another kick against his fellow blonde, this time to the side of her face sending her stumbling before a heavy spinning kick to her rear end sent the girl somersaulting forward, rolling like a ball till Ruby managed to stop her and helped her to her feet.

As Blake got back to her feet and rejoined the sisters, Naruto fell back into a ready stance and looked blankly back to his opponents. Weiss had already been removed, and taken to the infirmary. That left only three quarters of team RWBY in the arena, but, it was very clear who the victor of this fight was.

"Enough, Winner, Prince Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze." Ozpin said and both sides lowered their weapons.

As Naruto plodded away from the arena to gather his clothes, it was only now that the viewers outside the faculty noticed that Naruto hadn't moved from where he had been standing since his first attack in the fight.

Ruby, Yang, and even Blake were stunned by how easily they had been taken apart by the boy. They were already considered by most to be among the strongest teams at beacon, surpassing many older teams even. Yet here was a single shinobi that had torn them to pieces. Perhaps they had underestimated him, but still he was like a completely different person when they faced him in battle.

Doing their best to shake the thought of their defeat from their heads they took off to see their comrade in the infirmary and make sure she was alright. Not that they needed to. Naruto, while being brutal and efficient when his switch was flipped, was still in control of his actions. He may have knocked the annoying brat out, but he had only put enough force behind his strike to wipe her aura and put her to sleep for a few minutes at most.

"Well, I must say I'm impressed." Ozpin spoke evenly beside him.

Naruto finished dressing and scoffed at the headmaster. That was all he had to say? Was the man a sadist like Anko or something?

"Though, I can't say I am overly pleased by what occurred." He continued.

"Oh you aren't? I was sure by you pushing me into a group with them all day long this was exactly what you wanted. Both a chance to humble them and remind them of threats stronger than they are, and to evaluate some of my skill set." Naruto said as he began walking back toward his assigned room with the grey haired man close behind.

"Hmm, perhaps this is some of that paranoid shinobi mentality I've heard of bubbling to the surface." Ozpin commented.

"If you didn't want this outcome all you had to tell them was how Shinobi gain chakra, which I know that DP told you about after I told him." Naruto said with an eye roll as the pair stepped into the elevator.

"You could have told them yourself as well." Ozpin pointed out.

"I have no credibility with them, they would have no reason to believe me. Much more believable that I was just being a braggart and arrogant prick. Though now they will be frightened of me I suppose. So much for your big plan to have us be all buddy buddy, right?" Naruto asked as they stepped into his hallway and Naruto closed his door in the elder man's face.

"Perhaps, then again, your generation continues to do the unexpected, maybe your willpower will find its match in those four." Ozpin quietly said as he turned back to the elevator.

In his room, Naruto had been able to just make out what Ozpin had said as he left. It caused him to clench his fists before trying to physically shake the thought from his head. It was decided, he was not ever doing a long term mission like this again. Especially at a damn school. His parents would just have to find someone else.

Stepping into the shower provided with his room, Naruto stopped suddenly and his eyes glazed slightly before a small grin spread across his lips.

'_Oh my, what skeletons do you have locked in your closet Ozpin. Or should I say, locked in your basement? Now just to get past the security and see for myself, I bet our little miss VIP is somewhere down there.'_

* * *

**Well, now with that done I will hop back into my other stories and hopefully have something else up soon for them as well. Again sorry everybody for the long gap in updates, but between writer's block and a poor attention span, not to mention a few games that I have recently been playing a lot of….let's just say I have a lot of excuses lined up and move on. **

**Please review!**


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